PROCESSING OF ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL DECLARATIONS

Member States with an Additional Protocol in force are legally obliged to provide additional declarations on nuclear activities as well as allowing broader access to nuclear facilities and sites and other locations under State’s jurisdiction that the Agency may have cause to visit. The analysis of this information, in addition to other information sources available to the Agency, allows the confirmation, with a high degree of confidence, that no undeclared nuclear materials or activities are concealed with the State’s declared programme and that no elements of that programme are used for such purposes. The constantly increasing amount of information received in the Agency since the implementation of the Additional Protocol called for development of a new information system to support the inspectors, analysts and managers responsible for State evaluation in managing, checking and securing the data submitted by Member States. This paper addresses the following: - The processing, handling, storage and analysis of the submissions using the computer system developed in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in cooperation with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). - The experience with the Agency’s developed software program, the ‘Protocol Reporter’, to assist Member States in the preparation of their declarations. - The experience gained during the system implementation process and future demands due to the increasing numbers of protocols entering into force. - Aspects of the stringent security regime the Agency applies to protect the highly sensitive data. - Progress made in protocol processing by the IAEA, including the identification of remaining issues and reports on new initiatives that will further strengthen the information analysis process.