ENHANCED SAFEGUARDS SYSTEM AT IGNALINA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

There are regular shipments of spent fuel from the Ignalina nuclear power plant spent fuel storage area to the outside dry spent fuel storage. Implementation of IAEA safeguards under conditions of complex plant operation technology including hot cells operation and also container welding station requires comprehensible and reliable safeguards instrumentation system. Even if the reactor is shut down as it is intended for future, the application of IAEA verification activities for spent fuel transfers will remain essential. The concept of integration of surveillance system with unattended non-destructive assay (NDA) monitoring capability is described. The implementation of the integrated system is carried out in several steps. Installation of new digital image surveillance is done in parallel to currently operating analog surveillance. The old system will run till sufficient reliable experience is confirmed with the new system. The new surveillance servers are connected to the telephone lines so that the monitoring of the operation from Agency headquarters is possible. Subsequent steps in system implementation incorporate also hot cell radiation monitors. In the final stage, it is intended to integrate and bring information into one location (inspector’s room) at the facility for review and evaluation. Experience from the completed installation stages is presented and the first results are discussed.