ABACC EXPERIENCE IN APPLYING SURVEILLANCE AT CENTRIFUGE ENRICHMENT FACILITIES

ABACC has been involved in the application of safeguards to sensitive enrichment facilities of different sizes in the last 16 years. The selection of safeguards tools to be used in the safeguards approaches for these enrichment plants was always guided by the necessity of reducing intrusiveness and by the protection of sensitive information, being the latter a permanent concern of the Agencies and the Operator, without loosing efficiency and effectiveness [1]. In the past, the use of surveillance systems was very limited or even avoided; however, in the recent years this powerful tool more and more turned to be a usual system applied in this type of plant. The application of surveillance on centrifuge enrichment plants is always a great concern since sometimes it may deal with sensitive confidential images. Surveillance systems as safeguards tools in enrichment plants may have different purposes, such as perimeter control, control of the nuclear material flow, verification of special plant points where diversion may occur, and they are also used as safeguards instruments for design information verification. For each of these applications the surveillance system shall have to comply with special safeguards and technical requirements depending on the application under consideration. However, the system to be used shall be safeguards efficient and cost effective. This paper presents the different applications of surveillance systems as a tool to implement the proposed safeguards approach at enrichment facilities safeguarded by ABACC, taking into account the non-disclosure of sensitive information and the optimization of the inspection. The use of surveillance at various locations of the plant, including the cascade hall, is analyzed in connection to the purpose of the safeguards approach and diversion scenarios. Technical requirements of these surveillance systems are also discussed taking in consideration the availability of the equipment and the feasibility to be used during safeguards inspections. The paper addresses also the benefits and difficulties of incorporating new technologies to surveillance systems, such as interactivity with other safeguards instruments and remote access, when these systems are applied at enrichment facilities.