Publications Details

The impact of safeguards authentication measures on the facility operator

Tolk, Keith M.; Merkle, Peter B.

In order for the IAEA to draw valid safeguards conclusions, they must be assured that the data used to draw those conclusions are authentic. In order to provide that assurance, authentication measures are applied to the safeguards equipment and the data from the equipment. These authentication measures require that IAEA personnel have direct electronic and physical access to the equipment and severely limit access to the equipment by the operator. Providing the necessary access for the IAEA personnel can be intrusive and potentially disruptive to plant operations. If the equipment is to be used jointly by the operator and the IAEA, the authentication measures can cause difficulties for the operator by limiting his ability to repair and maintain the hardware. In many cases, tamper indicating conduit and enclosures are also required. The installation, sealing, and inspection of this tamper indicating hardware also add to the intrusiveness of the safeguards activities and increase the cost of safeguards. This paper discusses these impacts and proposes methods for mitigating them.