SAFEGUARDS PROTECTION OF DISCARDABLE NUCLEAR MATERIALS

Cost-effective risk management within the Department of Energy (DOE) includes protection of sensitive and classified assets such as nuclear material. Graded protection programs designed to prevent or mitigate losses and malevolent activities involving nuclear material have generally not focussed on nuclear materials of low strategic value and of no further processing use. But the potential for sabotage, unauthorized additional recovery and use of these materials as a diversion path must be considered in decisions involving protection of these materials. The DOE Office of Safeguards and Security has developed policy and guidance which establishes criteria for protecting discardable materials destined for intermediate and long-term storage on site as well as materials destined for disposal. Goals of this criteria are to assure the implementation of graded protection approaches for lowgrade materials applicable across the DOE and to assist in decisions regarding safeguards termination. This paper will discuss this safeguards policy and guidance on discardable nuclear materials.