Safeguards Developments and Challenges in the ROK During the Last Fifty Years

The Republic of Korea (ROK) joined the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA) in 1957 and ratified the Treaty on theNonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1975. Since then, theROK has followed all the requirements established by the IAEArelated to the State System of Accounting for and Control ofnuclear materials. In 1997, national inspections at nuclear facilitieswere initiated independently, yet concurrently with IAEAinspections. Using remote monitoring technology and state’s systemutilization, enhanced cooperation on light-water reactors(LWRs) between the ROK and the IAEA has been implementedsince 2002. In addition to the LWRs, discussion on the enhancedcooperation of the OLR reactor is underway. These newapproaches are expected to reduce the IAEA’s inspection effortsignificantly.The ROK has also made efforts to develop equipment forsafeguards inspection such as the spent CANDU fuel verifier, theOptical Fiber Scintillatorm and the Neutron FingerprintingSystem. In order to enhance the transparency of nuclear activities,the ROK signed the Additional Protocol (AP) in June 1999 andratified it in February 2004. As soon as entering the AP into force,the ROK started a discussion with the IAEA to apply the integratedsafeguards scheme. The working group for the IS schemewas organized to design the integrated safeguards for all nuclearfacilities in 2005. The measures for the integrated safeguards aredifferent depending on the nuclear facility. At a working groupmeeting, IS schemes were developed for LWR, OLR, FFP, andRRCA. Most of the important issues were solved at the workinggroup meetings, and it is expected that the ROK would be underthe IS scheme by 2008.Nuclear confidence building among neighboring countriescan be achieved with patience, effort, and understanding. Aregional cooperation scenario is presented based on the sprit ofmutual confidence.