The Role of Remote Monitoring under Integrated Safeguards

One of the aims of integrated safeguards is to use the “optimum” combination of available methods for the IAEA to independently derive assurance that a State’s declarations are both correct and complete. The “optimum” is determined on grounds of both safeguards effectiveness and cost efficiency. Since the early nineties a great deal of effort has been put into the application of remote monitoring (RM) techniques to safeguards. However the use of RM remains relatively limited, particularly outside EU countries, and a number of concerns continue to be held about RM, principally relating to the manner in which the remotely collected data can be used as part of safeguards evaluation, and the overall cost and reliability of RM techniques. In the context of integrated safeguards there is scope to reexamine these issues. The situations where RM techniques are likely to have the greatest impact include: where containment and surveillance measures are used; where inspector presence is used to maintain continuity of knowledge; and to address diversion scenarios that may not be adequately addressed by existing measures. This paper will review situations in which RM techniques can be used as part of integrated safeguards approaches and will examine means of ensuring that the RM derived data are appropriately coordinated with other safeguards measures to ensure that all realistic diversion scenarios are addressed in an efficient and cost effective way.