Material control and accounting self-test program design

This paper describes a controversial but potentially beneficial MCandA strategy that has not been widely attempted in the past, called Self-Test. In this strategy a processor of Strategic Special Nuclear Material (SSNM) devises a program of internally administered tests to determine if the MCandA system performs in a reliable, expedient manner in the face of a simulated loss or compromise. Self-Test procedures would include, for example, the actual removal of SSNM from process equipment in order to determine whether the MCandA system will detect the simulated theft. Self-Test programs have several potential problems. However, an approach with the potential for solving many of these problems has been devised and is discussed.