Planning Sustainability Activities for MPC&A Systems Developed at the Rosatom Sites in the Framework of Cooperation with USA

Realizing the importance of the upgraded systems sustainability, National Defense Authorization Act of 2003 mandates the U.S. Secretary of Energy to work cooperatively with the Russian Federation to develop, not later than January 1, 2013, a sustainable nuclear materials protection, control, and accounting system for the nuclear materials of the Russian Federation that is supported solely by the Russian Federation and meets the RF regulatory requirements. The transition period serves as a bridge between completing the system upgrades and establishing a sustainable MPC&A system in Russia. It has been agreed that the transition period starts when sustainability infrastructure would be upgraded for each site that jointly operates the upgraded MPC&A systems. In reality, based on the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) decisions, this transition period will take place between 2006 and 2012 for various sites and infrastructure areas. As a result, since 2004, the U.S./RF joint program for upgrading the nuclear materials protection, control, and accounting system started working in the direction of sustaining the developed and modernized MPC&A systems operation. Specifically, at the 4th meeting of the JCC in Vienna, Austria, in August 2004, it was emphasized that the upgraded MPC&A systems sustainability becomes increasingly important, and that it is necessary to focus on the organizational aspects of sustaining these systems operation. The JCC, at its 5th meeting in St.-Petersburg, Russia, in August 2004, made a decision to form a Joint Working Group to address the MPC&A systems sustainability issues (JSWG). The Joint Working Group meetings that took place in 2005-2006 were devoted to developing the Joint Sustainability Plan and to coordinating the main elements of the MPC&A sustainability. This document discusses the Sustainability Plan and the further actions of the Joint Working Group.