Safeguards systems that are capable of countering postu lated threats to nuclear facilities must be closely integrated with plant layout and processes if they are to be effective and if potentially-severe impacts on plant operations are to be averted. This paper describes a facilities safeguards system suitable for production plant, in which the traditional elements of physical protection and periodic material-balance accounting are extended and augmented to provide close control of material flows. Discrete material items are subjected to direct, over riding physical control where appropriate. Materials in closely-coupled process streams are protected by on-lir.e NDA and weight measurements, with rapid computation of material bal ances to provide immediate indication of large-scale diversion. The system provides an information and actions at the safeguards/ operations interface. The Problem The postulated threat to nuclear materials has grown to the point that extensions of conventional safeguards techniques have become increasingly burdensome. New threats and avenues for diversion are continually being postulated, and incremental exten sions of conventional measures intrude further on plant operations. What is needed is an integrated strategy for in-depth protection of materials in facilities that provides better effectiveness with out unreasonable operational impact.

No abstract