A Practical MC&A Inspection Training Approach for Gosatomnadzor of Russia

The Russian nuclear materials control and accounting (MC&A) program has undergone many changes over the last five years. New technologies have been introduced; personnel have been trained; and new regulations are being developed. Gosatomnadzor of Russia (GAN), as the state oversight authority for the control and accounting of nuclear materials used for civil purposes, has the responsibility to assure that nuclear materials are controlled, accounted for, and used only for peaceful and defensive purposes. To ensure that GAN inspectors are fully capable and able to carry out this objective, an extensive training program has been developed. One activity under this program was a practical MC&A training exercise conducted in the U.S. at an Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) Category I nuclear material facility. This paper describes the development of the exercise in the U.S., the inspection activities conducted, an evaluation of the results, lessons learned, and recommendations for future inspector training programs.