An international system of accounting, containment and surveillance, and inspections that verifies states' declarations about their nuclear material and facilities. Operators keep detailed material balance records, inspectors verify inventories, apply tamper-indicating seals and install cameras, and environmental sampling can detect undeclared activities. Domestically, the parallel discipline is material control and accounting, while protection against theft and sabotage is called physical protection or security.
Safeguards inspectors are on site Thursday to check the seals on the spent fuel pool cameras.
Also heard as
- nuclear safeguards
Do not mix it up with
- Criticality safety: Safeguards prevent diversion of material for weapons; criticality safety prevents accidental chain reactions in handling it.
Related terms
Significant quantity
The rough amount of nuclear material judged enough to make one nuclear explosive device, used as a safeguards yardstick.
Spent fuel pool
A deep, water-filled pool at a reactor where used fuel is stored to cool and to shield its radiation.
Dry cask storage
Storage of cooled spent fuel in sealed steel canisters inside concrete or steel casks, cooled passively by air.
Criticality safety
The discipline of preventing an accidental chain reaction wherever fissile material is handled outside a reactor.