Verification of the correctness and completeness of initial declarations

During the 1990's the Agency has acquired a number of new tools for the verification of the correctness and completeness of State's declaration. Nuclear material accountancy verification remains as the cornerstone of the IAEA verification activities to confirm the absence of diversion of nuclear material from declared inventories. Enhanced design information verification, which extends over the entire lifetime of the facility, is being used to confirm the applicability of the safeguards approach and capabilities and capacities of the facilities. Environmental sampling is a powerful tool in confirming types of nuclear material present, and it can be used to detect undeclared nuclear material and activities. Universal reporting scheme provides useful information about State's nuclear infrastructure complementing the declarations. There is currently a variety of open source information available, such as scientific and other publications, annual reports, and satellite imagery, which can be used to confirm chronologies and nuclear infrastructures, including nuclear-related R and D. Complementary access is a powerful tool used to confirm the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities. (author)