Performance Targets for Safeguards Effectiveness at the State Level

Under the State Level Concept (SLC), the IAEA seeks to optimize safeguards implementation at the level of the state as a whole, to ensure effectiveness while improving productivity and efficiency. Ultimately, the SLC aims to improve the IAEA’s ability to draw credible conclusions for the state as a whole, namely that declared nuclear material is not diverted and that there is no undeclared nuclear material or activity in the state. To do this, the IAEA must be able both to plan for implementation of effective safeguards and to evaluate whether effectiveness goals have been achieved. This raises inter-linked questions: 1) how to define the technical effectiveness of its verification efforts in a way that is driven by technical objectives that are defined in a consistent manner at the state level; and 2) how to optimize resource allocation in ways that are accepted as objective and non-discriminatory.Performance targets are an essential piece of the SLC architecture. They are needed in order to define effectiveness goals, to determine the frequency and intensity of safeguards measures to achieve them, to evaluate whether those effectiveness goals have been achieved, and to ensure the transparency and accountability needed to maintain the credibility and effectiveness of the IAEA safeguards system. To be able to fulfill those roles, performance targets need to be based on genuine metrics of safeguards effectiveness. Well-defined performance targets can improve understanding of safeguards implementation in ways that reduce concerns over discrimination, and provide indicators of performance trends that help maintain and even strengthen effectiveness over time.