SLAFKA Tutorial: The World’s First Blockchain Prototype for Safeguarding Nuclear Material

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) for nuclear material accounting at the national level

Prototype for safeguarding nuclear material is first step in demonstrating potential for DLT to manage data, information sharing and access controls for nuclear material accounting

Featuring  Cindy Vestergaard

SLAFKA is a prototype developed to demonstrate the potential for DLT to be applied to nuclear safeguards information management. Although fictional, SLAFKA is based on Finland’s State System of Accounting and Control (SSAC) and is made up of two kinds of participants: three operators (FT Power, PVO, and DGROrg) and three regulators (FinREG, RegionREG, WorldREG). FTPower and PVO represent nuclear power plants and DGROrg represents the deep geological repository.

The SLAFKA tutorial demonstrates three safeguards transactions: shipment domestic, receipt domestic and verification by the regulator. The domestic shipment and receipt of nuclear material transfers ownership of a batch of nuclear material from one facility to another. The nuclear regulator (e.g. FinREG) is able to verify transactions by setting the Verify flag when physically inspecting (and validating) location and composition of nuclear material. Only the regulator has the permission to execute this transaction. The tutorial explains SLAFKA permissions and outlines how DLT offers a novel way to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of nuclear safeguards information management. SLAFKA was built in collaboration between the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), the Stimson Center and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

The tutorial explains SLAFKA permissions and outlines how DLT offers a novel way to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of nuclear safeguards information management. SLAFKA was built in collaboration between the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), the Stimson Center and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

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