The Tripartite Seminars at the Russian Methodological and Training Center: An Overview of Progress in Nuclear Materials ?ontrol and Accounting in the Russian Federation

The development of the Russian Methodological and Training Center (RMTC) has been an important element of collaboration between the Russian Federation (RF), the European Union, and the US. The RMTC, located at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) in Obninsk, Russia has been designated by the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) to provide nuclear materials protection, control and Accounting training to Minatom and the Federal Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority (Gosatomnadzor) personnel. In addition, the RMTC was chartered with the responsibility of providing a venue for exchange of experiences and information between Russian and international specialists. With that purpose in mind, the US, EC and RF coordinators for RMTC organized a series of “Tripartite Seminars” covering several areas of interest in MC&A in the RF. To date, four seminars have been held at the RMTC. The first seminar, held in 1996, focused on MC&A issues and problems encountered in fuel fabrication plants. The second seminar, held in 1998, covered MC&A activities in radiochemical and reprocessing plants. The third seminar, held in 2000, dealt with the role of measurements in physical inventory taking and physical inventory verification in Russian facilities. The fourth seminar, held October 2002, covered the topic Assessment of Nuclear Materials Content and Inventory In By-product Streams. Each seminar was attended by approximately 50-70 Russian experts from primary facilities and laboratories within the RF, as well as representatives of Minatom and Gosatomnadzor. In addition, each seminar was attended by 10-12 experts from the EU and US. Scientists from other CIS countries also participated by contributing papers and posters for discussion at the seminars. The principal goal of the seminar series was to provide opportunities for RF experts to present their achievements and activities, and to allow an exchange of information and experiences among RF facilities and between RF, EU and US experts. The series of seminars also allowed the opportunity to for RF experts to strengthen relationships among colleagues, and enhance communication networks for communicating about future accomplishments and issues. Being able to come together in a public forum and share issues and concerns, discuss common goals and work together to solve global problems was considered a primary factor in the success of these Seminars. Participants always particularly appreciated the opportunity to exchange experiences, discuss the newly installed technologies and discuss questions in an open and extended fashion. The result of each seminar was a printed and CD-ROM set of Proceedings, containing all papers and abstracts. Copies were sent to participants as well as to the US and EU, to further diffuse the collected information. This paper presents a summary of the goals of the “Tripartite Seminars”, topics covered in the seminars and makes an attempt to draw conclusions on the progress achieved by RF facilities in implementing the new concepts of nuclear materials control and accounting (NMAC).