Technical Support
Over the years, a number of States have provided the NIS assistance
on a bilateral basis to set up an appropriate State System of
Accounting and Control (SSAC) that includes import/export controls
and the physical protection of nuclear material in each State.
An IAEA Co-ordinated Technical Support Programme today brings
these activities more coherently and efficiently together. The
IAEA's role has involved identifying detailed needs in individual
States, providing a platform for Member States to identify areas
where they could provide the optimum support, and developing and
preparing Coordinated Technical Support Plans (CTSPs). All donor
and recipient countries annually meet to review the focus and
implementation status of the coordinated technical support activities.
The contents of the CTSPs and the IAEA's role in monitoring progress
of individual tasks were reviewed at the IAEA's Safeguards Symposium
in a paper by Mr. Kenji Murakami, Mr. Richard Olsen, and Ms. Charlene
Blacker of the Depart-ment of Safeguards, and Mr. Sheel Sharma
of the Division of External Relations.
Coordinated efforts began following a meeting of potential donor States in May 1993. The participants at that meeting expressed interest in helping the NIS in establishing and improving their SSACs. A number of countries made funding available and became actively involved in providing support to the NIS. Today the active donor States include: Australia, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. Additional countries have indicated an interest in joining the coordinated technical support programme. CTSPs were developed to provide adequate support in several areas. They include nuclear legislation, the SSAC at State and facility levels, physical protection, and export/import control. The Plan is implemented in three phases that address immediate, near-term, and future needs. Phase I activities have been mainly covered and many tasks have been completed. Work is ongoing in Phases II and III. Today, CTSPs are active in the following countries: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Implementation of the CTSPs are pending in Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Turkmenistan.
Progress is monitored by the IAEA using a computerized monitoring system that provides the latest status of each task. These data have been recently made available to the donor and recipient countries on computer disk. The data can be used to assess progress of the tasks and to identify open areas for support. The Agency also updates and distributes a Calendar of Events of project activities, meetings, and visits. It further maintains a Training Profiles Database to provide the parties involved with information on the training received by State and facility personnel, and to help countries identify training needs. In general, significant progress has been made in implementing the support programme tasks. On average, 24% of the tasks are completed, 54% are on-going, and 22% are open (that is no donor country has been identified). It should be noted that a majority of the open tasks occur in recipient countries with small nuclear programmes.
Overall, the support to the NIS on a bilateral basis and through CTSPs has enabled the Agency to implement safeguards under the agreements now in force. However, improvements are still needed at State and facility levels for developing effective SSACs, and to improve controls for physical protection and the export/import of nuclear materials. To maintain progress, the work ahead will require greater commitment by the NIS to upgrade their capabilities and infrastructures and continuing strong cooperation and support from donor countries. The IAEA is committed to continuing its support in the implementation and monitoring of the progress of the CTSPs, through annual review meetings and the provision of updated status reports.
Photo: The Ignalina nuclear plant in Lithuania, one of the facilities at which IAEA safeguards are being applied in the NIS. (Credit: IAEA)
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