PNC/DOE remote monitoring project at Japan's JOYO facility

In the interests of nuclear nonproliferation, PNC and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) are cooperating on the development of a remote monitoring system. This project has been undertaken in line with the joint PNC/DOE agreement for Cooperation in Safeguards and Nonproliferation. The basic design of the remote monitoring system was produced by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the system itself is being installed in the Spent Fuel Storage Area at PNC's Experimental Fast Reactor Facility JOYO at O-arai in preparation for field tests. Technological development of the same system is being carried out in the U.S., as well as in Australia, Sweden, Argentina, etc., in cooperative studies with the U.S. These overseas developments are aimed at strengthening and rationalizing security. On the other hand, the development at JOYO is being carried out from the standpoint of systems applicable to nuclear proliferation in a field wider than safeguards technology alone. In the course of this project, confirmation of the system's basic design, actual functions and performance will be carried out at the Spent Fuel Storage Area. (author)