Tags and Seals in a Transparency Regime

In a transparency regime, high security tags and seals provide the technical means to identify and securely store treaty-controlled items such as nuclear material containers and nuclear weapon components. Inspection equipment and data storage media can also be protected using tags and seals. In such a regime, these tags and seals are usually classified as tamper indicating devices. A Tamper Indicating Device (TID) has two features: 1) a unique counterfeit resistant signature to identify the controlled item and 2) a tamper-indicating feature that provides a means for indicating unauthorized access or attempts at tampering with a controlled item. The purpose of a TID is to prevent undetected unauthorized access to controlled items. TIDs contribute to treaty compliance verification by controlling the nuclear weapon inventories under START, and are being scrutinized for potential implementation under START III, the Mayak Fissile Material Storage Facility Transparency and the Trilateral Initiatives.