Year
2018
Abstract
The Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material (ABACC) is an organization created in 1991 by Argentina and Brazil with the mission of verifying the peaceful use of nuclear materials and installations in both countries. Among several responsibilities, ABACC has to perform quantitative verification of the declared nuclear material inventories and transactions using destructive and non-destructive measurement techniques that need to conform or be equivalent to the latest international standards, as stipulated in the relevant safeguards agreement. In this paper we describe the most important measurement techniques currently used by ABACC inspectors during on-site activities or by its network of analytical laboratories in the case of destructive analysis techniques. Measurement data obtained during past years is compiled and evaluated against applicable international standards. The outcomes from recent international intercomparison exercises for destructive analyzes are also presented. Finally, we discuss the future steps that will be essential for ABACC to maintain or improve its measurement capabilities.