Assessment of the testing of the radiation tolerance of the EOSS seal

The Electronic Optical Seal System EOSS was developed in the frame of the German Support Programme to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with participation of the Euratom Safeguards Office. The "Common Qualification Test Criteria for New Safeguards Equipment, Version 2" comprise one element of the IAEA's equipment authorisation process. This document defines the minimum testing required before new equipment can be used in safeguards applications. It is divided into four parts: environmental testing (temperature and humidity), mechanical testing (vibration, shock and drop), electromagnetic testing (field emission and immunity) and ionizing irradiation testing (fast neutron, thermal neutron, and gamma). Furthermore, newly developed safeguards equipment is subject to a usability review, a vulnerability assessment, and extensive field trials. The present paper deals with the evaluation of the IAEA's irradiation test criteria, which were established in cooperation with the Euratom Safeguards Office. Moreover, the test criteria and test results of the irradiation testing of the EOSS seal were assessed taking into account seal aging due to the expected accumulated doses as well as the radiation levels experienced in safeguards applications. The document referenced above is still in draft form due to questions about the irradiation testing procedures. These questions were to be resolved by engaging the Fraunhofer-Institut Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Trendanalysen (FhG-INT) to provide an independent review of the joint IAEA/Euratom irradiation test criteria.