Early Experience in Implementation of the Modified Small Quantities Protocol under the US-IAEA Caribbean Territories Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/366)

摘要

Pursuant to Additional Protocol I to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, individual Safeguards Agreements were produced for France, the Netherlands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) (signed but not ratified) and United States of America (U.S.) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Because there are minimal or no nuclear material or activities in the affected territories of these States, these agreements include a small quantities protocol (SQP) that holds in abeyance a majority of the IAEA reporting and access requirements. The Agreement between the U.S. and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (US-IAEA Caribbean Territories Safeguards Agreement) entered into force on April 6, 1989, along with its SQP to the agreement. In 2005, the IAEA identified proliferation concerns associated with holding most of the requirements in abeyance through an SQP, and has since urged States with an original SQP to adopt the modified model SQP. To ensure consistent reporting and access under the new requirements of the modified SQP, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has initiated rulemaking to modify Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 75 "Safeguards on Nuclear Material-Implementation of US-IAEA Agreement." Additionally, the NRC has developed a robust outreach plan with the affected licensees in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in order to ensure effective and timely implementation, once the modified SQP enters into force. This paper will address the basis for adopting the modified SQP, new requirements of the modified SQP, along with outreach and implementation efforts, to date, with affected NRC licensees in the U.S. Caribbean Territories.