MPC&A INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANIZATION AT THE SIBERIAN CHEMICAL COMBINE

The Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK), known during the days of the USSR as \"Tomsk-7\", is located along the Tom River within the \"closed city\" of Seversk. The city of Seversk is fifteen kilometers northwest of Tomsk, the principal city of the Tomsk Region of central Siberia. The Siberian Chemical Combine, along with the closed city of Seversk, occupies more than two hundred square kilometers. SKhK is a multi-function special nuclear material production and processing complex - the largest of its kind in the world. Activities at SKhK include reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel; conversion of uranium oxide into uranium hexafluoride; centrifuge enrichment of uranium; production of nuclear weapons grade plutonium; blending of high-enriched uranium into low-enriched uranium; and the manufacture of plutonium and uranium weapon components. SKhK consists of six main facilities: the Reactor Plant, Radiochemical Plant, Chemical Metallurgical Plant, Uranium Enrichment Plant, Conversion (Sublimation) Plant, and the Experimental Physics Plant. In addition, a Central Storage Facility manages storage and transportation functions for the majority of the SKhK nuclear material. Each plant, while independent both physically and operationally, is interconnected by a common function: the production, processing, and storage of special nuclear material. Since 1995, SKhK has been working in collaboration with the U.S. MPC&A program to upgrade physical protection, nuclear material control, and nuclear material accounting at SKhK. The autonomous nature of the six major facilities of SKhK has presented many MPC&A challenges for SKhK, including the development of a consistent approach to MPC&A site-wide. In this paper, we will present the MPC&A infrastructure that has been developed by the management of the Siberian Chemical Combine. The unique feature of this organization is the way in which the Combine has been able to unite the seven autonomous organizations to pursue a common goal of establishing an upgraded nuclear material protection, control, and accounting system