Year
2007
Abstract
In June 2004, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pronounced that all nuclear materials in Japan had been placed under safeguards and remained in peaceful nuclear activities. In accordance with this broader conclusion, the implementation of Integrated Safeguards (IS) in Japan was announced by the IAEA and the Government of Japan (GOJ) in September 2004. Currently, approximately 70% of nuclear facilities in Japan are under IS. In 2003, these facilities required only 36% of IAEA’s inspection total efforts in Japan (1). The major part of the rest of IAEA’s inspection efforts in Japan are for JAEA’s plutonium handling facilities. These facilities are not yet under IS. These inspections constitute more than 10% of IAEA’s global inspection efforts. In addition, a large-scale reprocessing facility will start its commercial operation soon, and a commercial mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility is being planed for Japan. Furthermore, efforts to develop future advanced nuclear fuel cycle systems, such as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) and the Feasibility Studies (FS) for the commercialized fast reactor cycle system are being promoted. All of these new initiatives, plants, and activities will dramatically increase the current load on IAEA inspections. Therefore, innovative technology and streamlining inspections for plutonium handling facilities are needed for maximizing the effective use of inspection resources. An added benefit of such technology is strengthening the international nonproliferation regime. New Safeguards concepts were studied to improve inspection efficiency and reduce both inspector and operator workloads. These technologies are based on new and innovative tracking and traceability technologies, such as tracking nuclear materials using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), tracing nuclear materials using the isotopic composition of minor actinides, and tracking nuclear materials by monitoring plant operational parameters. In the current study, feasibility of using RFID in material accountancy and safeguards verification was analyzed. Further investigation on effectiveness in the safeguards, contributions to efficiency and cost-benefits of the RFID are currently under evaluation.