The New Verification Approach Based On Continuous Collection And Analysis Of Operational Data Implemented At The Georges Besse Ii Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant

The Georges Besse II enrichment plant located in Pierrelatte (France) is based on the ETC gas centrifuge technology and operated by Orano. It reached its full production capacity in 2016. The facility is under Euratom safeguards and has been designated for IAEA safeguards in 2009. The initial verification approach was similar to those applied at other enrichment plants under Euratom and IAEA safeguards. Since 2008, the operator, the State authorities, Euratom and the IAEA cooperated, through the French and the EC support programmes, on the development of a new approach based on the recording and analysis of operational data. Dedicated software tools were created to enable continuous data collection from the cylinder weighing and mass spectrometry systems. The data is immediately secured under the inspectorates’ custody and can be retrieved for analysis. The software application, “Inspector Studio GBII”, developed by the EC Joint Research Center Ispra in cooperation with the IAEA, allows to confirm at any time that the flow of nuclear material within the facility is balanced. It enables the verification of declared uranium content and isotopic composition in each and every tails and product cylinder produced. It also provides a robust verification of the absence of undeclared production of LEU from undeclared feed and absence of production of uranium enriched at higher levels than declared. Nevertheless Limited Frequency Unannounced Access (LFUA) inspections remain one of its key elements, to conduct specific activities providing confidence that the data collected when inspectors were not present, remained valid, genuine and representative of the plant operation. The EC-Server, thoroughly tested during the last five annual physical inventory verifications, is now 100% operational, including modifications that effectively address the latest cybersecurity challenges and other demands raised during tests by the inspectorates. The new Safeguards approach has thus been implemented by the IAEA since November 2020. The Facility Attachment is about to be finalized as well as the Euratom Safeguard Provisions. The new GBII approach demonstrated its reliability and significantly enhances effectiveness and efficiency of the verification activities in such large throughput facility and could be considered for implementing in other similar facilities.