U.S. ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL: SPECIFIC ISSUES AND STATUS

The Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America (the “U.S. Additional Protocol”), signed in 1998, has been in force since January 6, 2009. Before forwarding its instrument of ratification for the U.S. Additional Protocol to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.S. Government had to complete a number of steps to ensure that the United States could provide the IAEA the information and access required under the Protocol. Each of these preparations is reviewed. U.S. Government agency responsibilities for outreach, data collection, and other implementation tasks, which are shared among the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, and Energy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, are outlined. The policy context for the application of IAEA safeguards in the United States is also briefly summarized. In this regard, the U.S. Additional Protocol requires the declaration of, and provides for IAEA access rights only at, locations that are not of direct national security significance to the United States. Finally, the U.S. experience in implementing the U.S. Additional Protocol for the past four years is reviewed and assessed.