IAEA SAFEGUARDS: IAEA Request for Continued AFTAC Support

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000011 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/MNSA:RCOCKERHAM; IO/GS:JDETEMPLE NRC FOR NMSS:SAGUILAR DOD/OSD FOR JSMITH DOE/NA-241 FOR WOCONNOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TRGY AORC KNNP MNUC IAEA SUBJECT: IAEA SAFEGUARDS: IAEA Request for Continued AFTAC Support for Particle Analysis of Environmental Samples ¶1. (SBU) Mission received the letter below requesting continued AFTAC support at current contractual levels of 450 samples per year. ¶2. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Mission strongly recommends continued support for this critical safeguards mission and requests guidance for responding to IAEA. BEGIN TEXT OF IAEA LETTER Under Contract 1998-649, the U.S. Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) provides the IAEA with services of particle analysis of environmental samples using a combination of Fission Track technique with Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (FT-TIMS). We clearly recognize and appreciate that, owing to the US Support Programme, the IAEA has the privilege of paying only a small fraction of the real cost of this extremely expensive analysis. AFTAC has the most experience with environmental swipe (ES) samples, the largest infrastructure, and an extensive quality control programme. It is also a member of the IAEA's Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL) which accepts highly radioactive samples for FT-TIMS analysis. The IAEA greatly appreciates AFTAC's contribution to the NWAL, and would like to reiterate its interest in AFTAC's continued support at the current contractual level. I would also like to express the gratitude of the IAEA for the valuable contribution provided by the US Support Programme to the IAEA's safeguards efforts. Nikolai Khlebnikov Director Division of Technical Support Department of Safeguards END TEXT DAVIES