Canada's Implementation Practices in Provision of Information to the IAEA

The information required by the IAEA to implement safeguards in Canada can be categorized into six main areas: operational, nuclear material accounting, design information, voluntary reporting, Additional Protocol, and responding to IAEA questions and inquires. This information is provided to the IAEA by mail, email, secure mailbox and hopefully in the future by electronic data submission. The requirements for the reporting and submission of this information are found in Canada's Subsidiary Arrangements, Facility Attachments and in the IAEA safeguards procedures for Canadian facilities. These requirements are incorporated into regulatory requirements through regulations, licences and regulatory documents. Licences then implement a safeguards programme that demonstrates their ability and commitment to meet the relevant regulatory requirements. As Canada moved to a State-level integrated safeguards approach the volume of information provided to the IAEA increased, mostly in the provision of additional monthly and weekly advanced notifications and declarations to support the short notice random and unannounced inspections, and the provision of near-real-time nuclear material accounting reports. As the IAEA, CNSC and licences gained experience in providing this information, the amount of information submitted was streamlined. This information gives the IAEA comprehensive knowledge of the flow of nuclear material (imports, exports and transfers between Material Balance Areas) as well as the location of nuclear material in Canadian facilities at any point in time. Using the structure of the IAEA's draft Safeguards Implementation Practices Guide on Provision of Information to the IAEA as a framework, this paper will describe the relevant implementation practices and experiences in Canada. (author)