Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) arecollaborating on development of a Ceramic Seal, also sometimes designated the IntrinsicallyTamper Indicating Ceramic Seal (ITICS), which is a tamper indicating seal for internationalsafeguards applications. The Ceramic Seal is designed to be a replacement for metal loop sealsthat are currently used by the IAEA and other safeguards organizations. The Ceramic Seal hasnumerous features that enhance the security of the seal, including a frangible ceramic body,protective and tamper indicating coatings, an intrinsic unique identifier using Laser SurfaceAuthentication, electronics incorporated into the seal that provide cryptographic sealauthentication, and user-friendly seal wire capture. A second generation prototype of the seal iscurrently under development whose seal body is of Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC)construction. SRNL has developed the mechanical design of the seal in an iterative processincorporating comments from the SNL vulnerability review team. SRNL is developingfluorescent tamper indicating coatings, with recent development focusing on optimizing thedurability of the coatings and working with a vendor to develop a method to apply coatings on a3-D surface. SRNL performed a study on the effects of radiation on the electronics of the sealand possible radiation shielding techniques to minimize the effects. SRNL is also investigatingimplementation of Laser Surface Authentication (LSA) as a means of unique identification ofeach seal and the effects of the surface coatings on the LSA signature.
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