A Diversion strategy (diversion path) is a (hypothetical) scheme which a State could consider to divert nuclear material or to misuse items subject to IAEA safeguards. Diversion strategies are postulated for purposes of developing safeguards approaches. Diversion strategies would include:

• the undeclared removal of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility
• the use of a safeguarded facility for the introduction, production or processing of undeclared nuclear material (e.g., the undeclared production of high enriched uranium in an enrichment plant, or the undeclared production of plutonium in a reactor through irradiation and subsequent removal of undeclared uranium targets)

In developing safeguards approaches, the IAEA assumes that a diversion strategy would include one or more concealment methods.