Year
2016
Abstract
In December 2015 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) completed the largest capital investment project in its history with the operational authorization of the new Nuclear Material Laboratory (NML) for the Department of Safeguards. The IAEA established the ECAS Project (Enhancing Capabilities of Safeguards Analytical Services) in 2009 with the aim to modernize and replace its 1970s’ vintage Safeguards Analytical Laboratory (SAL), to extend the capabilities of the original Clean Laboratory, and to improve the overall site infrastructure. The ECAS Project was launched with a design-and-build approach for a Clean Laboratory Extension (CLE) to house a large geometry secondary ion mass spectrometer and other laboratory spaces needed to support particle analysis of environmental samples. This undertaking was completed in 2011 and signalled the start of a stepwise design and construction plan, which would include a new NML to replace SAL, updated infrastructure (sewer, water, power, steam, active waste water and civil improvements) and an entirely new security enclosure and main gate facility to provide independent security control for the IAEA Seibersdorf Laboratories site. The NML construction was completed in 2013, and the new main gate and an additional office annex to the NML were completed in 2015. All major aspects of the ECAS Project have been implemented, within schedule and slightly under the approved budget. The Office of Safeguards Analytical Services transitioned into the NML from SAL over a two year period without interruption to sample analysis services, and without any safety or security incidents. In this paper we describe the overall business case, the internal and external review process that supported the requirements gathering phase, the conceptual design, construction and finally transition phase that lead to the full implementation of the ECAS Project.