Accounting system
The persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall maintain a system of accountancy and control for nuclear materials. This system shall include accounting and operating records and, in particular, information on the quantities, category, form and composition of these materials as provided for in Article 18, their actual location and the particular safeguards obligation as provided for in Article 17, together with details of the recipient or shipper when nuclear materials are transferred.
The system of measurements on which the records are based shall comply with the most recent international standards or shall be equivalent in quality to those standards. On the basis of these records, which shall be retained for a period of at least five years, it must be possible to draw up and substantiate the declarations made to the Commission. Accounting and operating records shall be made available to the Commission’s inspectors in electronic form if they are kept in this form by the installation. Further details may be specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6 for each installation.
Operating records
For each material balance area, the operating records shall include, where appropriate:
(a)
the operating data used to determine changes in the quantities and composition of nuclear material;
(b)
a list of inventory items, updated to the best extent possible, and their location;
(c)
the data, including derived estimates of random and systematic errors, obtained from the calibration of tanks and instruments as well as from sampling and analysis;
(d)
the data resulting from quality control measures applied to the nuclear material accountancy system, including derived estimates of random and systematic errors;
(e)
a description of the sequence of actions taken to prepare for, and take, a physical inventory, and to ensure that the inventory is correct and complete;
(f)
a description of the actions taken in order to ascertain the cause and magnitude of any accidental or unmeasured loss that might have occurred;
(g)
the isotopic composition of plutonium, including its decay isotopes, and reference dates, if recorded at the installation for operational needs.
When available, the data referred to in point (g) shall be communicated to the Commission on request.
Accounting records
In respect of each material balance area the accounting records shall show the following:
(a)
all inventory changes, so that the book inventory can be determined at any time;
(b)
all measurement and counting results used to determine the physical inventory;
(c)
all corrections made to inventory changes, book inventories and physical inventories.
The accounting records relating to any inventory change and physical inventory shall show the material identification, batch data and source data for each batch. These records shall account separately for uranium, thorium and plutonium, in accordance with the categories listed in Article 18(2)(b). In addition, for each inventory change, the date of the change and, when appropriate, the dispatching material balance area or the shipper and the receiving material balance area or the recipient shall be indicated.
Accounting reports
The persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall provide the Commission with accounting reports.
The accounting reports shall contain the information available on the date of reporting and must be corrected at a later date if necessary. Accounting reports shall be transmitted to the Commission in electronic form, except in cases where the Commission has granted a written derogation, or the transitional arrangements specified in Article 39 apply.
On a reasoned request by the Commission, further details or explanations in connection with these reports shall be supplied within three weeks.
Initial book inventory
The persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall transmit to the Commission, within 30 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation, an initial book inventory of all nuclear materials they are holding, using the format set out in Annex V. This Article does not apply to the persons or undertakings who have already transmitted an initial book inventory under Regulation (Euratom) No 3227/76, or to waste treatment or waste storage installations.
Inventory change report
1. For each material balance area, the persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall transmit to the Commission inventory change reports in respect of all nuclear materials using the format set out in Annex III.
Unless otherwise specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6 for an installation, these reports shall be sent monthly, at the latest 15 days after the end of the month, and shall state all inventory changes which have occurred or become known during that month.
2. For months in which a physical inventory is taken, and the physical inventory taking date is not the last date of the month, two separate inventory change reports shall be transmitted:
(a)
a first inventory change report containing any inventory changes up to and including the physical inventory taking date, which shall be sent at the latest, together with the second inventory change report, or together with the physical inventory listing and the material balance report if the latter are sent before the second inventory change report;
(b)
a second inventory change report containing all inventory changes from the first day after the physical inventory taking date to the end of the month which shall be sent within 15 days of the end of the month.
3. For months in which no inventory changes occur, the persons or undertakings concerned shall send the inventory change report, carrying over the ending book inventory of the previous month.
4. In order that they may be reported as a single inventory change, small inventory changes, such as transfers of samples for purposes of analysis, may be grouped together, as laid down in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6 for the installation concerned.
5. Inventory change reports may be accompanied by comments explaining the inventory changes.
Material balance report and physical inventory listing
For each material balance area, the persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall transmit to the Commission:
(a)
material balance reports, in the format set out in Annex IV, showing:
(i)
beginning physical inventory;
(ii)
inventory changes (first increases, then decreases);
(iii)
ending book inventory;
(iv)
ending physical inventory;
(v)
material unaccounted for;
(b)
a physical inventory listing, in the format set out in Annex V, showing all batches separately.
The reports and the listing shall be transmitted as soon as possible and at the latest within 30 days of the date on which a physical inventory was taken.
Unless otherwise specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6 for an installation, a physical inventory shall be taken every calendar year and the period between two successive physical inventory takings shall not exceed 14 months.
Special reports
The persons and undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall transmit to the Commission a special report whenever the circumstances referred to in Articles 15 or 22 arise.
The type of information to be supplied in such reports shall be specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6.
The special reports, and further details or explanations which may be requested by the Commission in connection with these reports, shall be supplied without delay.
Unusual occurrences
A special report shall be made in the following cases:
(a)
if, as a result of any unusual incident or circumstances, it is believed that there has been or might be an increase or a loss of nuclear material in excess of the limits specified for these purposes in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6;
(b)
if the containment has unexpectedly changed from that specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6, to a point where an unauthorised removal of nuclear material has become possible.
The persons or undertakings concerned shall submit these reports as soon as they have become aware of any such loss or increase or sudden change in the containment conditions, or of anything which leads them to believe that there has been such an occurrence. The causes shall also be stated as soon as they are known.
Reporting of nuclear transformations
In respect of reactors, calculated data on nuclear transformations shall be reported in the inventory change report at the latest when irradiated fuel is transferred from the reactor material balance area. In addition, other procedures for recording and reporting nuclear transformations may be specified in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6.
Particular safeguard obligations
1. Nuclear materials subject to particular safeguard obligations entered into by the Community in an agreement concluded with a third country or an international organisation shall, unless otherwise stipulated by such an agreement, be identified separately for each obligation in the following notifications:
(a)
initial book inventory provided for in Article 11;
(b)
inventory change reports, including ending book inventories, provided for in Article 12;
(c)
material balance reports and physical inventory listings provided for in Article 13;
(d)
intended imports and exports provided for in Articles 20 and 21.
Unless specifically prohibited in any of those agreements, such separate identification shall not preclude the physical mixing of materials.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the Agreements concluded by the Community and the Member States with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Weight units and categories of nuclear materials
1. In any notification referred to in this Regulation, quantities of materials covered by the Regulation shall be expressed in grams.
The corresponding material accounting records shall be kept in grams or in smaller units. They shall be kept in such a manner as to render them trustworthy and, in particular, to comply with current practices in the Member States.
In the notifications, quantities may be rounded down when the first decimal is 0 to 4 and rounded up when the first decimal is 5 to 9.
2. Unless otherwise provided for in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6 the notifications shall include the following:
(a)
the total weight of the elements uranium, thorium and plutonium, and also, for enriched uranium, the total weight of the fissile isotopes;
(b)
separate material balance reports as well as separate line entries in inventory change reports and in physical inventory listings for the following categories of nuclear material:
(i)
depleted uranium;
(ii)
natural uranium;
(iii)
uranium enriched to less than 20 %;
(iv)
uranium enriched to 20 % and above;
(v)
plutonium;
(vi)
thorium.
Derogations
1. The Commission may grant producers and users of nuclear materials a written derogation from the rules governing the form and frequency of the notifications provided for in Articles 10 to 18, in order to take account of any particular circumstances in which safeguarded materials are used or produced.
The derogation shall be granted on submission of a request by the person or undertaking concerned using the form set out in Annex IX.
The derogation shall be granted only for a whole material balance area in which nuclear material is not processed or stored together with nuclear material for which no derogation can be granted.
2. The Commission may grant a derogation for a material balance area holding:
(a)
quantities of nuclear material commensurate with those specified in Annex I-G, which are kept in the same state for long periods;
(b)
depleted uranium, natural uranium or thorium which is used exclusively in non-nuclear activities;
(c)
special fissile materials when used in gram quantities or less as sensing components in instruments;
(d)
plutonium with an isotopic concentration of plutonium-238 exceeding 80 %.
3. The persons or undertakings to whom a derogation is granted shall transmit an annual report to the Commission by 31 January of each year, using the form set out in Annex X. This report shall describe the situation at the end of the previous calendar year.
4. In the case of exports of nuclear material to a third country, the persons or undertakings to whom a derogation has been granted shall transmit a report to the Commission as soon as possible and, at the latest, within 15 days of the end of the month in which the export occurred, using the form set out in Annex X. This report shall indicate the quantity of nuclear material exported and the stock of nuclear material still subject to derogation.
5. In the case of imports of nuclear material from a third country the persons or undertakings to whom a derogation is granted shall transmit a request to the Commission to add this material to the list of materials in respect of which the derogation applies. The request shall be transmitted to the Commission as soon as the transfer date is known to the person or undertaking and, at the latest, within 15 days of the end of the month in which the transfer occurred, using the form set out in Annex IX.
6. The Commission may define other specific clauses concerning the form and the periodicity of the reports in the particular safeguard provisions referred to in Article 6.
7. If the conditions for derogation are no longer met, the derogation shall be withdrawn by the Commission, acting upon receipt of information from the person or undertaking to whom a derogation is granted.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
