TECHNICAL VIEW REGARDING THE OVERSIGHT OF ANM IN J A P A N

Year
2000
Author(s)
Hiroyoshi Kurihara - Nuclear Material Control Center
Takeshi Tsujino - Nuclear Material Control Center
Toshihide SUGIYAMA - Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation
T. Sugiyama - Japan Nuclear Fuel Cycle Development Institute
Abstract
Japan agrees with the chairman’s conclusion at the IAEA Board of Governors in September 1999, concerning the need, the legal basis and the methods for monitoring of Alternative Nuclear Materials (ANM). However, there are still a number of open issues, regarding specific facility level implementation, how the IAEA intends to proceed and details of related undertaking by other states. This paper provides a summary of activities in Japan that could be subjected to Np oversight measures. The discussion here is limited to Np because the proliferation risk associated with Am is judged to be practicably zero at this time. The summary includes a specific example regarding Np behavior and corresponding oversight measures that might be implemented at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP-JNC). The principal results from technical discussions on Np are presented, and the paper concludes with a view of elements of an oversight regime - the technical measures, import/export, quantity reporting and cooperation with the IAEA.