Establishment of the Russian Safeguards Methodology and Training Centre

The Russian Federation has recently decided to transform and reinforce its State System of Accountancy and Control (SSAC) of nuclear materials. At the basis of the new system, consistent with the example of other national or regional systems, a laboratory framework giving reference and traceability to international standards, methodological support and training is planned. This last point includes the establishment of laboratories and facilities designed for the development, calibration, evaluation of the performances and training in the proper use of measurement methods and containment and surveillance measures, which are the basis for the implementation of an objective and sound nuclear material accountancy and control system. These projects will have to be tailored to the requirements of the nuclear fuel cycle in the Russian Federation and may eventually also be of interest for other countries in the CIS. The European Commission, in the framework of the collaboration with the Russian Federation, has proposed and initiated projects oriented to supporting the above plans. One of these projects concerns the establishment of the Russian Methodological and Training Centre RMTC at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) of OBNINSK, Kaluga Region, in the Russian Federation. This paper describes the main features of the RMTC project