A Concept for a World-wide System of Identification of UF6 Cylinders

Standardised uranium hexafluoride (UF6) cylinders are used at over 40 industrial facilities world-wide for conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication. These cylinders are used for processing and storage, and over 50,000 tU in the form of UF6 is transported each year in these cylinders. Although each cylinder is manufactured to an international standard that calls for a nameplate with the manufacturer’s identification number and the owner’s serial number engraved on it, these can be quite small and difficult to read. Therefore, cylinder handlers have used a wide variety of cylinder numbering systems, and many different methods are employed to record and read the number on a cylinder. Recognising that each facility seems to use a different identity number, a cylinder can have several different numbers recorded on it, by means of metal plates, sticky labels, paint or even marker pen as it travels among facilities around the world. It would be beneficial to industry to have an international standard for numbering of cylinders, a modern method of recording the identity number on a cylinder, and ideally an automated method of reading of the cylinder number. This paper proposes a programme to achieve these aims, both for newly manufactured cylinders and for existing stocks. If successful, there would be considerable benefit for operators in areas of transportation, logistics, administration, and nuclear materials accountancy and control. Having an identification method that could be independently used by national authorities and international inspectorates could greatly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of safeguards verification as well. An improved verification system would provide increased confidence in matching reported shipments and receipts, quicker and more reliable verification of declared cylinder inventories, and an improved capability for safeguards inspectors to assure that no undeclared cylinders are present at a facility.