1994-2004, ten years of total safeguards application

In March 1994, the Quadripartite Agreement was signed between the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the application of Safeguards. In Argentina a new period was initiated in the nuclear material control process which has contributed to show to the international community that the nuclear activities are developed with peaceful purposes and in the framework of submitted declarations. The implementation of the Quadripartite Agreement provisions has had during these ten years several stages. The initial one has represented a very big effort due to the great quantity of data to be processed and to the need of designing and implementing a new approach of the State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Materials (SSAC), which has involved a great effort from the National Authority and the facilities operators. After the IAEA an ABACC verification and consolidation of the initial report, it was necessary to implement and put into operation new procedures for handling systems of accounting information, inspections, design information, etc. Nowadays, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority is in a period where the routine application of the procedures of the Quadripartite Agreement shows the knowledge and the experience achieved. This work shows a brief review from the Quadripartite Agreement signature and the main features of its application in Argentina and in the region. It also explains the operation of the State System of Accounting for and Control and the Safeguards Inspections System and their big relations with the regional system applied by ABACC. Besides, the evolution of the main parameters of the SSAC for this period is presented, as well as the development and the situation of the negotiations of the facility attachments. Finally, the conclusions drawn by the agencies and the forecasts and tendencies towards to the future application of more integrated Safeguards approaches are showed. (author)