The SO-20.3 MC&A modernization plan final report.

Materials Control and Accountability (MC&A) provides assurance to the nation that nuclear materials are controlled in accordance with their strategic and economic importance and that the misuse, theft or diversion of these materials will be detected. MC&A plays an important part in security at nuclear facilities, especially in addressing threats such as theft of materials, environmental contamination, and nuclear safety incidents associated with nuclear materials. For this reason, it is important that MC&A takes advantage of new technologies and methods in order to provide information on a site's nuclear materials in the most timely and useful manner possible. Within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Office of Security Policy, Policy Integration and Technical Support Program (SO-20.3) is responsible for the development of safeguards and security technology that enables DOE and NNSA facilities to safeguard their Special Nuclear Materials. The SO-20.3 Program tasked safeguards personnel at Los Alamos National Laboratory to lead a project with representatives from the Y-12 Plant, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Savannah River Site to prepare an MC&A Modernization Plan that provides recommendations for development new technologies and methodologies for MC&A in both new and existing DOE facilities. The team was tasked with taking intomore » account new concerns about the protection of nuclear material following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Opportunities for applying new MC&A approaches and technologies that provide increased freedom of operation, increased security and provide a potential for cost savings in existing and new DOE facilities are discussed in this report.« less