Located in Seibersdorf, Austria, the Nuclear Material Laboratory will be used by to examine atomic substances that agency inspectors collect from IAEA member states' fuel-cycle processes.
The Nuclear Material Laboratory "will bring together in a single building, analytical activities that are currently dispersed among a number of buildings at Seibersdorf," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a speech commemorating the facility's inauguration. "The NML will give us state-of-the-art capabilities in the analysis of uranium, plutonium spent fuel and high-activity liquid waste samples, as well as in archiving samples safely and securely."
Construction of the laboratory started two years ago. Over the next year-and-a-half, the new facility gradually will begin assuming the duties of the Safeguards Analytical Laboratory, which is more than 40 years old, according to an IAEA press release.
While most of the laboratory has been built, support systems for its safe operation still need to be constructed and financed. Following the adoption of the 2014 budget at last week's annual IAEA general membership meeting, the Nuclear Material Laboratory effort still lacks almost $12 million, Amano said in his speech.
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