Authenticated tracking and monitoring system (ATMS) tracking shipments from an Australian uranium mine

The Authenticated Tracking and Monitoring System (ATMS) answers the need for global monitoring of the status and location of sensitive items on a worldwide basis, 24 hours a day. The ATMS concept uses wireless sensor packs to monitor the status of the items and environmental conditions, to collect a variety of sensor event data, and to transmit the data through the INMARSAT satellite communication system, which then sends the data to appropriate ground stations for tracking and monitoring. Authentication and encryption algorithms are used throughout the system to secure the data during communication activities. A typical ATMS application would be to track and monitor the safety and security of a number of items in transit along a scheduled shipping route. The resulting tracking, timing, and status information could then be processed to ensure compliance with various agreements. Following discussions between the Australian Safeguards Office (ASO), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in early 1995, the parties mutually decided to conduct and evaluate a field trial prototype ATMS to track and monitor shipments of uranium ore concentrate (UOC) from a currently operating uranium mine in Australia to a final destination in Europe. This trial is in the process of being conducted on a worldwide basis with tracking and monitoring stations located at sites in both Australia and the U.S. This paper describes the trial.