ML20353A353

Dfm Division Instruction, FF-FM - 2, Implementation of U.S. - IAEA Safeguards Agreement

ML20353A353
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Issue date:	03/08/2021
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FF-FM - 2, Rev. 0
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Division of Fuel Management Division Instruction Division Instruction No.:

FF-FM - 2, Revision No. 0 Division Instruction Title; IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. - IAEA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT Effective Date:

March 8, 2021 Primary

Contact:

Branch Chief, MCAB REVISION TYPE:

Initial Issuance (See Appendix A)

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

1.

OBJECTIVES.................................................................................................................... 1

2.

GUIDANCE SECTION...................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Regulatory Background......................................................................................... 1 2.1.1 US-IAEA Agreement for the Application of Safeguards in the U.S., and its Initial Protocol (INFCIRC/288)................................................................... 1 2.1.2 Additional Protocol..................................................................................... 2 2.1.3 US-IAEA Caribbean Territories Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/366)... 2 2.2 Procedures............................................................................................................ 3

3.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES........................................................................ 5 3.1 Interational Safeguards Analyst............................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.2 Branch chief.......................................................................................................... 5

4.

REFERENCES.................................................................................................................. 5 Appendix A. Change History....................................................................................................... 6

Division Instruction Division Instruction No.:

FF - FM - 2, Revision No. 0 Division Instruction

Title:

IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. - IAEA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT Effective Date:

March 8, 2021 Primary

Contact:

Branch Chief, MCAB REVISION TYPE:

Initial Issuance (See Appendix A)

DISTRIBUTION:

DFM Staff File Location:

ADAMS Main Library/NMSS/NMSS-DFM-DivProcedures ADAMS Accession Number: ML20353A353 (Publicly Available)

OFFICE\\DIV:

DFM/STLB:PM DFM/STLB: LA DFM/MCAB: PM NAME:

TLiu SFigueroa DHanks DATE:

12/18/2020 12/18/2020 12/28/2020 OFFICE\\DIV:

DFM/MCAB: BC NMSS/DFM NAME:

JRubenstone YDiazSanabria DATE:

1/20/2021 3/7/2021 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

FF - FM - 2, Rev. 0 1

IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. - IAEA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT

1.

OBJECTIVES 1.1 To provide information to the Division of Fuel Management (DFM) staff on the relevant background and processes associated with implementation of the United States (US)/International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards Agreements.

1.2 To provide detailed procedures for submitting Design Information Questionnaire (DIQ) to the IAEA.

2.

GUIDANCE SECTION 2.1 Regulatory Background Regulations that implement the US-IAEA Safeguards Agreements, which includes the Agreement Between the United States of America and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America and its Initial Protocol (INFCIRC/288), and its Additional Protocol (INFCIRC/288, Add 1), and the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco) (INFCIRC/366) are found in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 75 (10 CFR 75). Per 10 CFR 75, certain licensees are required to allow inspections by IAEA representatives, follow written material accounting and control procedures, give immediate notice to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in specified situations involving the possibility of loss of nuclear material, and give notice for imports and exports of nuclear material. In addition, the regulations allow licensees to request an exemption from 10 CFR 75 requirements.

2.1.1 US-IAEA Agreement for the Application of Safeguards in the U.S.,

and its Initial Protocol (INFCIRC/288)

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is the most important international political instrument aimed at preventing further spread of nuclear weapons. Countries that have brought into force safeguards agreements associated with the NPT are subject to IAEA safeguards inspections. The NPT establishes the authority for the IAEA to conduct inspections to verify the accuracy and completeness of declarations regarding nuclear materials at nuclear facilities, locations, and nuclear material outside facilities (NMOF). The U.S.-IAEA Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/288) requires the U.S. to maintain a list of eligible facilities in the U.S. that are not of direct national security significance and that could be inspected by the IAEA and be required to report nuclear material inventory and flow. The IAEA may select facilities for inspection or material accounting reporting from this U.S. Eligible Facilities List (EFL). The U.S. must provide the IAEA with a completed Design Information Questionnaire (DIQ) for any facility selected by IAEA from the EFL. A DIQ is a document that provides the IAEA

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inspectors with information to develop a safeguards approach and prepare a Facility Attachment (or Transitional Facility Attachment for "reporting only" facilities) that establishes the safeguards inspection and/or reporting requirements for the facility. The type of information included in the DIQ is as follows:

1) description of the facility;

2) the form, quantity, location, and flow of nuclear material being used;

3) facility layout; and

4) containment features and procedures for nuclear material accountancy and control.

2.1.2 Additional Protocol On January 6, 2009, the Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the U.S.

and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in the U.S. (AP) entered into force. Reporting and access requirements of the AP are codified in 10 CFR 75 and apply to both the NRC and Agreement State licensees. Each year an annual AP declaration update is compiled by the NRC and Executive Branch agencies and provided to Congress for a 60-day period of review prior to submittal to the IAEA. Required AP reporting (10 CFR 110.54 and 10 CFR 75) forms from NRC licensees are sent to the Department of Commerce (DOC), as the central forms repository. The Material Control and Accounting Branch (MCAB) in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), along with the Office of International Programs, work directly with NRC and Agreement State licensees to ensure complete and correct reporting. Some examples of AP reporting requirements are:

1)

Nuclear fuel cycle related Research and Development not involving nuclear materials, with and without U.S. Government involvement;

2)

Activities on the sites of nuclear facilities;

3)

Manufacturing of nuclear fuel cycle-related equipment and materials;

4)

Mining and ore processing activities for uranium and thorium;

5)

Possession of impure source materials;

6)

Ten-year plan for fuel-cycle-related activities (no legal obligations or rights associated with this declaration); and,

7)

Export of nuclear fuel cycle-related equipment and materials.

Under the AP, the IAEA can request a Complementary Access (CA) to certain locations within the U.S. The purpose of these CA requests is to confirm that no undeclared nuclear materials and/or activities are present. While a CA is unlikely in the U.S., Agreement States and their licensees should be aware of this provision and understand the various roles and responsibilities. When a CA is called, the NRC (i.e., MCAB in NMSS) will coordinate an appropriate plan of action with the site or location and the Agreement State if that site or location is in an Agreement State jurisdiction.

2.1.3 US-IAEA Caribbean Territories Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/366)

This non-nuclear weapons State style comprehensive safeguards agreement

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was documented in IAEA Information Circular 366 (INFCIRC/366), pursuant to treaty obligations of the U.S. under Additional Protocol I to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Tlatelolco Treaty). The U.S. agreed to accept IAEA safeguards in U.S.

territories in the zone of application of the Tlatelolco Treaty the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Navassa Island, Serranilla Bank, Baja Nuevo Bank (Petrel Island), and the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay. INFCIRC/366 includes a Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) to the agreement that holds some reporting requirements in abeyance.

Regulations captured in 10 CFR 75 ensure that the U.S. provides timely, correct and complete reports and declarations from the zone of application to the IAEA and respond to IAEA requests.

Possessors of NMOF are primarily scattered throughout Puerto Rico and hold very small amounts of nuclear material, well below the thresholds defined to maintain an SQP, as outlined in Article 35 of the Agreement. In order to improve efficiency, the U.S. declarations and reports originating from these Possessors of NMOF are considered one location outside facility (LOF) material balance area (MBA). Quantities of nuclear material transferred into/out of the MBA are regarded as imports/exports and reported on an annual basis to the IAEA. The annual physical inventory within the MBA is a composite of all nuclear material present at key measurement points assigned to each Possessor of NMOF.

2.2 Procedures Procedures for submitting DIQs to the IAEA, for facilities selected from the EFL, are as follows:

1)

Upon receipt of a license application to construct a new fuel cycle facility (other than a facility of direct national security significance), the facility will be added to the EFL. The revised EFL will undergo a 60-day Congressional Review before becoming final. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) will provide the IAEA with a revised EFL and inform the IAEA that the facility has been added to the List.

2)

If the IAEA selects a facility from the EFL, the International Safeguards Coordinator in MCAB will request that the NMSS project manager (PM) responsible for the facility notify the facility, in writing, that it has been selected for IAEA inspection or reporting and is subject to 10 CFR Part 75 (e.g., pursuant to 10 CFR 70.21(g) for fuel cycle licensees).

3)

The PM will request that the licensee prepare a DIQ and submit an initial physical inventory listing to the U.S. Nuclear Material Management and Safeguards System in accordance with 10 CFR Part 75. The licensee will provide information for the DIQ on forms supplied by the Commission (IAEA Form N-71 and associated forms) or on internally generated forms that follow the IAEA's DIQ format. International Safeguards staff from MCAB will be available to respond to questions so that the DIQ provides sufficiently complete information in the proper format to IAEA.

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4)

Upon receipt of the design information from the licensee, the PM will forward the DIQ to the International Safeguards Analyst in MCAB for review and approval. The PM will be responsible for ensuring that the licensee makes necessary changes to the DIQ. The DIQ will then be submitted by the IAEA Safeguards Coordinator to the U.S. interagency Subgroup on IAEA Safeguards in the U.S. for approval. The International Safeguards Analyst then will provide the DIQ to DOS for transmittal to the IAEA.

5)

Whenever the facility design and procedures change from that stated in the DIQ, the licensee should provide updated DIQ information to the NRC International Safeguards team in MCAB. The revised DIQ will be submitted to the IAEA through the same process as the initial DIQ.

Updates may be made through page changes instead of regenerating the whole DIQ.

6)

Within 45 days of the U.S. receiving notification of selection of the facility by the IAEA, a completed DIQ will be prepared and transmitted to the IAEA. (Subsidiary Arrangements Code 3.1.1)

7)

After receipt of the DIQ, the IAEA may conduct design information verification visits to confirm that the facility design matches that described in the DIQ and assist in the development of a safeguards approach for the facility. After the safeguards approach has been approved, the IAEA and U.S. will negotiate a Facility Attachment that establishes the inspection and reporting requirements or a Transitional Facility Attachment which does not include inspection activities. A Facility Attachment contains, inter alia:

a.

A short description of the facility;

b.

A provision to submit to the IAEA changes in the information on the facility;

c.

Accountancy measures for the facility;

d.

Provisions for containment and surveillance measures;

e.

Specific provisions and criteria for termination of and exemption from safeguards of nuclear materials;

f.

A detailed description of the records and reports system;

g.

A description of the mode and the scope of IAEA routine inspections (Facility Attachment only); and

h.

Provisions for administrative procedures concerning the facility.

8)

When the U.S. and IAEA approve the safeguards approach for the facility, the PM should prepare and issue a license amendment incorporating facility attachment that details the IAEA safeguards approach and reporting requirements into the facilitys license.

9)

When a facility is deselected for inspections (no inventory-taking procedures are established or scheduled, but the licensee is still required

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to report accounting data), the IAEA may reselect the facility for reporting only and a Transitional Facility Attachment will be prepared by the IAEA.

10)

When the facility has been closed and the license has been terminated, or when decommissioning has advanced to the stage where all nuclear material and all equipment essential for operations has been removed, or when the facilitys mission has changed such that it becomes of direct national security significance, the facility is removed from the EFL.

When the U.S. determines that the facility has been adequately decommissioned or that the mission has changed, the DOS will notify all affected entities of the facility's removal from the EFL.

3.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES 3.1 International Safeguards Analyst The assigned International Safeguards Analyst in MCAB carries out the procedures described in this DI.

3.2 Branch chief The Chief, MCAB, reviews, concurs, and/or approves the actions performed by the assigned project manager as outlined in this DI.

4.

REFERENCES 4.1 The Agreement between the United States of America and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in the United States (INFCIRC/288) and all protocols and subsidiary arrangements thereto, 4.2 The Protocol Additional to the Agreement Between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America, concluded between the United States and the IAEA in Vienna, Austria, on June 12, 1998, that follows the provisions of INFCIRC/540.

4.3 The Agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (INFCIRC/366) and all protocols and subsidiary arrangements thereto.

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Appendix A. Change History IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. - IAEA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT Date Brief Description of Changes Revision No.

XX/XX/2021 Initial Issuance.

0