OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS INTEGRATION METHODOLOGY FOR EFFECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE MPC&A SYSTEMS IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

Ensuring all aspects of the continued operation of installed Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A) systems is a critical measure of the successful establishment of improved safeguards and security for nuclear materials at Russian sites. The installed systems must eventually be operable solely by the Russian sites, or the desired control over the nuclear materials will not be permanently realized. Effective introduction and implementation of new technologies and procedures for the enhanced protection of nuclear material at Russian sites requires a focus on the operational work processes supported at those sites. A number of US/Russian joint teams are following an upgrades methodology that seeks first to understand these processes and then integrate effective technologies that will result in a sustainable system. Process identification leads to effective procedures that in turn drive resource usage analysis and training programs. Performance tests of the system result in data that are used for appropriate system modification. Following this methodology allows for effective MPC&A systems that continuously improve and allow for a US role in the Russian site to evolve from implementation of upgrades to problem solution and assurance of the protection and accounting operations. In educating the sites to assess and understand their MPC&A procedures, the associated operational costs, and the methods to improve operations, the US is preparing eventually to phase out of this support role as the site’s ability to assume that burden materializes. This paper will define and describe the sustainability concept, outline the methodology for ensuring MPC&A sustainability at upgraded sites, describe some success stories from implementation at pilot Russian sites, and offer suggestions for embedding sustainability and operational infrastructure in MPC&A systems as they are upgraded.