Development of a Computer Based Measurement System to Enhance Safeguards Applications at a Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant

A Man-Machine-Interface (MMI) has been developed to simplify and enhance the efficiency for unannounced inspections for a South American gas centrifuge enrichment plant. For the past several years, the IAEA in conjunction with the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) has been developing a safeguards approach for this facility. The Department of Energy (DOE) through the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Center for International Threat Reduction and its subcontractors have been providing technical support to this program. Part of the safeguards approach involves neutron transmission measurements across the cascade components using a qualitative Go/No-Go technique to preserve sensitive process information. The original Go/No-Go proof of principle instrumentation was comprised of several separate components that made the system bulky and difficult to maneuver. Recently, an MMI, that integrates several of the original components into a single system, has been designed, constructed and approved by the facility operator. Nondestructive assay (NDA) experts from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant designed, tested and installed software specifically for use on this unit. The software provides the inspector with the capability to calibrate the system using standards, specific to the neutron transmission measurement method, which are the same as those used with the original Go/No-Go instrumentation. The software is designed to enhance inspection activities while