The Physical Model - Reorganizing To Enhance Its Value To The Iaea Department Of Safeguards

The Physical Model is the IAEA Department of Safeguards’ encyclopedic reference for the nuclear fuel cycle. The Physical Model is the only Agency-authored reference specifically designed to be used during safeguards implementation. This gives it a unique role in ensuring the consistency, objectivity, and effectiveness of the Department’s work. While the Agency works to update and maintain the Physical Model in consultation with Member State experts, it is important to examine how the Physical Model can be utilized for maximum benefit in safeguards implementation. One of the ways the Physical Model can be enhanced is by re-organizing its content to better support the Department’s work related to pre- and post-operational phases of a nuclear fuel cycle process. Such a reorganization could support critical tasks like acquisition path analysis and the development of technical objectives for undeclared acquisition path steps. This paper documents how such a restructuring would enhance the Physical Model’s value by encouraging Member State experts to focus on different phases of operation during periodic updates, and by considering the sources of safeguards information available at each phase. Finally, this paper describes the various IAEA tasks that the Physical Model supports, with a focus on the work of State Evaluation Groups, and it identifies how the Physical Model can contribute to the consistent, objective, and effective completion of those tasks.Argonne National Laboratory's work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Office of Science and Technology, under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.