International Tracking and Monitoring of Nuclear Spent Fuel Transport

A cooperative monitoring project was recently initiated to track and monitor shipments of spent fuel from the Lucas Heights HiFAR Research Reactor, located near Sydney, Australia, to either the United States or France. Partners in the project are the US Department of Energy and the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office. This project could satisfy a need to have near-real-time continuity of knowledge of a shipment of nuclear material. The benefits of demonstrating a fully operational and sustainable system are significant, because the envisioned system could significantly enhance global safety and security of nuclear material in the transport phases of the nuclear fuel cycle.