Using a Web Based Geographic Information System to Create and Submit Digital Declaration Site Maps for the Additional Protocol 2.a(iii)

Abstract

States with additional protocols [1] to comprehensive safeguards agreements in force are required under Article 2.a.(iii) to submit to the IAEA a map for each site. A special format for the map submission is neither prescribed in the Additional Protocol (AP) for Article 2.a.(iii), nor in the current guidelines [2]. Since the first adoption of the Additional Protocol, advances in mapping technology provide new means for submitting site maps. For Euratom members such as Germany, a new submission process will need to conform to both IAEA and Euratom standards. A joint Member State Support Programme task on Digital Declaration Site Maps (DDSM) has already demonstrated the viability of submitting site maps digitally, with geospatial data intact. A next step in this pilot project is to evaluate the technical changes required to implement a new submission process using a secure, web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) for a few selected sites in Germany. The data conversion procedure varies at each site in Germany due to data origin and current map submission procedures in place. This is due in part to the various methods in which the map data was initially created and subsequently maintained. Some site operators continue to use paper maps designed in the 1970s while others have updated their map data technology in varying degrees during the past decades. Modern server-based GIS portals hold the potential to assist site operators in updating their site maps and maintaining changes. This paper details some of the efforts required to modernize the site map updating and submission processes. The submission of maps as part of declarations by the current Commission’s Additional Protocol Editor (CAPE) software as well as by new AP input software of the IAEA, Protocol Reporter 3 (PR3), will be discussed