PROPOSED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND FUNCTIONAL DESIGN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL REPORTING SYSTEM

The Additional Protocol Reporting System (APRS) will be a secure internet-based information system designed to meet the legal requirements of the Department of Energy (DOE) for compliance with the “Protocol Additional to the Agreement Between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for Application of Safeguards in the United States of America,” as the U.S. Additional Protocol is formally known. The Additional Protocol supplements and amends the existing treaty for the implementation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards in the United States and expands the information that is provided to the IAEA under the Safeguards Agreement. In addition, it has provisions for inspections of U.S. facilities to verify the completeness and accuracy of the U.S. declaration. In order to manage the new declaration requirements, the Department of Energy has funded the APRS to provide a mechanism for data providers, DOE management, and interagency reviewers to input, track, review, and approve declarations. The APRS must also provide a mechanism to electronically transmit this information to the U.S. Government system, which will be managed by the Department of Commerce, and thus support formal submission to the IAEA. The system must be robust, easy to use, and easily available to all stakeholders, while at the same time provide adequate data security for unclassified sensitive information. In order to achieve this, it is important that the system requirements be adequately defined such that the system design supports the reporting obligations of the Additional Protocol as well as maintains consistency in the reporting process and the final data output.