Information Management Supporting the Evolution of the State-Level Concept

Since the early 1990s, the evolution of nuclear proliferation challenges has led the International Atomic Energy Agency to continuously evolve safeguards implementation in order to provide the international community with credible safeguards conclusions. The full application of the Statelevel concept to all States has already required and will necessitate some further adjustment in safeguards implementation, and in particular, to the information landscape supporting it. Historically, computer tools were always designed on the basis of local business requirements addressed in isolation, with dissemination of information essentially based on document distribution issued from these tools. Consolidation of data for comparison and consistency assessment were essentially a paper-based or, at best, document-based exercise. The need to ensure effectiveness and efficiency associated with the continuous analysis of all safeguards-relevant information has led, not only to a reassessment of the sources of information to be included, but also to defining a new approach to information technology solutions and their architecture. Solutions must provide the quasi real-time dissemination of any information to those who need to use it, in a manner that addresses one of the biggest risks of the 21st Century: information overload. This paper describes the efforts put in place by the Department of Safeguards to acquire and process safeguards-relevant information that goes beyond State declarations and inspection results, without neglecting the fundamental role of all activities associated with nuclear material (e.g. accountancy, material balance, environmental and destructive sample analysis, and non-destructive analysis). It illustrates how experts’ focused tools should support the building of the information landscape necessary to support the evolution of safeguards, in particular with the implementation of the concept of the Electronic State File, continuously updated with any change or issue identified and completed with the necessary follow-up. The paper provides examples of the power of advanced visualisation in capturing fundamental elements that contribute to safeguards-relevant analysis. It concludes by highlighting the mandatory information governance and cultural adaptation without which any sophisticated tool kit will never provide the expected outcome.