STRENGTHENING SAFEGUARDS IN THE FRONT END OF THE FUEL CYCLE

With the continued spread of nuclear technology and the planned increases in the size and number of nuclear facilities worldwide, the international nonproliferation community is exploring capabilities and methods to strengthen the monitoring and inspection of nuclear materials in the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. This includes strengthening inspection methods used by the International Atomic Energy Agency at uranium hexafluoride conversion plants and uranium enrichment plants. This paper presents the results from technical workshops with uranium producers and National Nuclear Security Administration-sponsored studies on strengthening the implementation of international safeguards to make them more effective and efficient at conversion and gas centrifuge enrichment facilities.