Decision Guidelines for Managing Nuclear Material

Managing nuclear material at a DOE site is, in general, an expert based process, especially when there is a need to move unwanted or unneeded material off site. The disposition process results in the transfer of nuclear material to another site for use or re-use, transfer to a non-DOE organization, setting aside the material as a National Asset, or disposal as waste. There is a current effort to develop disposition guidance for the Office of Nuclear Material Integration (ONMI) that will provide a more consistent reproducible process-oriented approach. The guide will be developed in phases, beginning with core components of the disposition process. The subsequent phases will add detail to functional areas that aid the nuclear material manager in disposition of unneeded material at their respective sites. The disposition guidance will incorporate or reference related processes from Material Control & Accountability, packaging and transportation and waste management as well as lessons learned from experts, providing a well thought out approach that integrates the disposition process across the DOE sites. This paper provides an overview of the first phase of the disposition guidance proposed for ONMI. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.