Joint Programme on the Technical Development and Further Improvement of IAEA Safeguards - The German MSSP

The “Joint Programme on the Technical Development and Further Improvement of IAEA Safeguards” was established by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1978. Since the very beginning, the overall aims of this unlimited project called the “German Member State Support Programme” (GER MSSP) have been to cooperate with the IAEA in developing state-of-art methods and techniques, to assure the supply with the developed methods and techniques, to provide training, expert advice and consultancy on safeguards issues, to delegate cost-free experts to the IAEA, and to inform the IAEA, as early as possible, about Germany's nuclear plans and projects. By 2016, the German MSSP has completed more than 160 tasks, issued more than 420 progress reports and more than 100 technical documents. The German Member State Support Programme currently comprises 20 active tasks. The activities have always been carried out in close cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, IAEA, EURATOM, research institutions and universities, government agencies, nuclear industry, commercial developers, and other IAEA Member State Support Programmes. Most of the safeguards instrumentation developed by the German MSSP has been implemented by the IAEA and EURATOM for routine inspection use. Moreover, facility specific safeguards approaches have been developed for nuclear research centers as well as for the total nuclear fuel cycle including direct final disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a geological repository. The German MSSP has supported the IAEA in the implementation of the Additional Protocol and in the evolution of State-level safeguards. The paper reviews the achievements since 2013, presents the current main areas and activities, and discusses key lessons learned and challenges