Additional protocol experience in Romania

Full text: National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) is the national regulatory body with regulation, authorization and control responsibilities. CNCAN has the right and obligation to ensure that safeguards are applied, in accordance with the terms of the safeguards agreement, on all source or special fissionable material in all peaceful nuclear activities within the State, under its jurisdiction or carried out under its control anywhere, for the exclusive purpose of verifying that such material is not diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. CNCAN has built a strong primary and secondary legislation in order to have a strong legal framework to fulfill the NPT, Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol requirements. In respect of the non-proliferation issues CNCAN has as a major goal to strengthen the effectiveness and to improve the efficiency of the safeguards system. Also closer co-operation between the IAEA and CNCAN as coordinator of the national system of accounting for and control of nuclear material has been developed by organizing international and national seminars on the implementation of safeguards and the additional protocol. After the entry into force of the Additional Protocol, CNCAN prepared appropriate declarations and answers to the relevant IAEA questions in order to obtain a drawn conclusion of the absence of undeclared nuclear material and nuclear activities within Romania territory. The IAEA evaluated in Romania not only the results of its nuclear material related activities under the Safeguards Agreement but also the results of its broader, more qualitative, evaluation and verification activities under the Additional Protocol. CNCAN assured that the IAEA inspectors have complementary access according to the Additional Protocol as requested in accordance with the provisions of the Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol and cooperated in resolving in a timely manner, any questions or inconsistencies identified by the IAEA during its verification and evaluation activities. During 2001-2006 the IAEA performed in Romania 21 complementary accesses and took 21 samples. Training for the implementation of the Additional Protocol started in 2001 with a national seminar organized by the IAEA and CNCAN. In 2003 IAEA and CNCAN organized a regional seminar on the Additional Protocol implementation during 2004 - 2005 national seminars. (author)