Objectives and tasks on creating a model site at “Luch”

Joint cooperation of “Luch” with US DOE national laboratories on development, creation and modernization of nuclear materials physical protection, control and accounting systems at “Luch” was started after signing the Basic Agreement at the end of 1995. During the first meeting with the American experts a strategy of conducting modernization of the nuclear materials physical protection, control and accounting systems was outlined, possible boundary lines of joint cooperation were described and initial stages of work were planned according to priorities. Huge work on modernization of MPC&A systems was done for more than a ten-year period of the joint cooperation. Simultaneously with it the legislative and normative baseline, both on nuclear materials physical protection, control and accounting was intensively developed and improved. It could take any system several years to be created beginning from a statement of work development, designing, and completing with its implementation in dependence on its complexity and volume. Taking into account this factor, the system which had already been put into operation, could not always meet all the changed rules and norms requirements completely. In addition, some insufficiently effective elements which required additional upgrades were revealed after conducting performance tests of the developed systems. Also there are certain differences in the normative baseline and differences in approaches to the MPC&A systems support between the American and Russian experts. At the 8-th session of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) held in March, 2006 the decision on equipping one of the Rosatom sites – FSUE SRI SIA Luch with modern means of physical protection, control and accounting to be fully correspond to the requirements of the Regulations of physical protection and Basic Regulations of Control and Accounting was accepted. The primary tasks directed to accomplishment of the JCC decision are the existing MPC&A systems to be analyzed for full conformity to the acting normative documentation, and also development and coordination of the plans on upgrading the MPC&A systems, and implementation of these plans.