Safeguarding Geological Repositories for Spent Nuclear Fuel: Past, Present, and Future

Under the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) a non-nuclear weapons state signatory of the treaty must conclude a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (based on the INFCIRC/153 model agreement). The traditional safeguards agreement, has been applied to many types of nuclear facilities like reactors, critical facilities, conversion and fuel fabrication plants, separate storage installations, reprocessing plants, and enrichment plants. This safeguards system provides credible assurance of the non-diversion of nuclear material from declared nuclear activities. Upon the introduction of the Model Additional Protocol (INFCIRC/540 Corr.), to strengthen IAEA safeguards, the safeguards objective has been expanded to provide, as well as assurance of non-diversion, credible assurance of the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in the state. safeguards system, based on the implementation of the