Year
2014
Abstract
Since the commercial-scale pyroprocessing facility under IAEA safeguards is not operated at present all over the world, the IAEA safeguards criteria for the pyroprocessing are not established yet and the safeguards technology, which could be applied to the pyroprocessing facility, is not authenticated. Since the plutonium-bearing materials of the pyroprocessing are different from that of the conventional reprocessing facility, advanced safeguards technology should be developed. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is actively developing the safeguards technology for the pyroprocessing facility. Reference Engineering-scale Pyroprocessing Facility (REPF), which is a conceptual model pyroprocessing facility, was designed, and safeguards approach for the REPF was developed through the IAEA Member State Support Program (MSSP). Material Balance Area (MBA)s and Key Measurement Point (KMP)s are identified in the REFP, and the nuclear material accounting methods in each MKP were specified. Sigma-MUF of the nuclear material accounting system was evaluated to investigate if the safeguards approach of REPF could meet the IAEA detection goal. PRIDE is an integrated engineering-scale mock-up pyroprocessing facility, and only depleted uranium will be treated in PRIDE. PRIDE safeguards information system is being established to develop and test the safeguards technology and safeguards approach in PRIDE. Nuclear material accounting and monitoring technologies such as neutron counter for U/TRU ingot, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and Compton suppressed gamma-ray spectroscopy are developed by KAERI. International collaborations with US and IAEA on the safeguards technology are continued through Joint Fuel Cycle Study (JFCS) and MSSP.