South Korea has been developing pyroprocessing technology that recovers valuable resources such as uranium from the spent fuels of nuclear power plants. Unlike reprocessing technology, which enables the separation of plutonium, pyroprocessing recovers neptunium, americium, curium and plutonium together in a batch-mode operation. These aspects make pyroprocessing a promising non-proliferation nuclear fuel cycle, but also introduce some challenges in terms of safeguards. Incorporating the Safeguards-by-Design concept early in the conceptual design phase of the nuclear facility is important for establishing an effective and efficient safeguards implementation. This may also reveal synergy components to potentially reduce safety and/or security risks, as well as improve the major plant design characteristics including the operational efficiency and minimize the life cycle cost. In this context, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has been developing safeguards technologies, to overcome safeguards challenges and enhance the proliferation resistance aspects of advanced nuclear fuel cycles, in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United States. Advanced safeguards systems, including nuclear material-accounting technologies and new safeguards approaches for pyroprocessing, have been under development at KAERI. This paper addresses the main features of the safeguards development status and future prospects of the pyroprocessing facilities. It is expected that the deployment of these advanced safeguards technologies well be useful for a pyroprocessing facility. This paper first reviews previous R&D conducted on the safeguards for pyroprocessing, and then describes recent activities including future plans in domestic as well as collaborative work with the IAEA and the US.
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