Automated Systems for Unattended Weight and Item Monitoring at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, Russia

Year
1999
Author(s)
A.N. Rumyantsev - Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute
P. Singh - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Zane W. Bell - Lockheed Martin Energy Systems
Chris A. Pickett - Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc.
R.L. Lawson - Lockheed Martin Energy Systems
V.A. Pavshuk - Kurchatov Institute
J.R. Younkin - Lockheed Martin Energy Systems
Abstract
As part of US/Russian Material Protection, Control and Accounting (MPC&A) Program, technologies that can provide unattended weight and item monitoring for stored nuclear materials have been installed at a test facility at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, Russia. These technologies are being evaluated by the Kurchatov technical staff to determine their potential for use in an integrated site-wide system designed to continually monitor the inventory status of stored nuclear materials at the Kurchatov Institute. These technologies were developed and are in use at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant for the purpose of reducing the inventory frequency, the cost, and worker exposure associated with routine physical inventories. The technologies that have been implemented in Russia are the (Oak Ridge Systems for Enhancing Nuclear Safeguards) ORSENSTM SmartShelfTM system and the ORSENSTM capacitance weight sensors system. This paper will provide a description of the technologies, problems encountered in adapting the technology to the Russian facility, and results obtained to date from each system.