Problems and progress in international safeguards

Effective implementation of IAEA safeguards today and in the future is dependent, at least partly, on resolving problems which may be described as practical realities. Among those which require consideration are an inability to use the latest technological developments because of perceived licensing, liability and safety problems, and an unwillingness of States to accept redundant containment and surveillance measures which the IAEA believes are necessary to preclude system failures. There is a need to reconsider the manner in which statistical evaluation of materials accountancy data are performed, first to eliminate the apparent perception by some that such tests are used to 'decide' whether diversion has occurred, and second to recognize that statistical tests are dependent on measurement uncertainty data which are currently only partially available. Practical problems in trying to achieve timely detection goals are also discussed. Looking to the future, the paper describes some projects currently under way which relate to resolving some of these practical problems. (author)