Year
2008
Abstract
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a mock feed and withdrawal (F&W) system to evaluate continuous load-cell monitoring as part of a layered safeguards strategy. Traditionally, international inspectors rely on batch verification of material inputs and outputs derived from operator declarations and periodic on-site inspections at uranium enrichment plants or other nuclear processing facilities. Continuously monitoring F&W activities between inspections will significantly increase the effectiveness of safeguards and improve the efficiency in conducting on-site inspections—especially at large plants. The mock F&W system provides a platform for economically evaluating the integration of other monitoring systems—such as video surveillance, UF6 cylinder identification and tracking, and flow measurement—with continuous load-cell monitoring to provide a multi-layered approach to safeguards. Using a rules-based system design, site-specific applications of safeguards measures can be tested and evaluated. These evaluations can be conducted from the standpoints of generating, authenticating, and storing data; ensuring operational reliability and transparency; and alerting inspectors to off-normal events. Continuous collection and evaluation of safeguards-specific F&W data will provide a near real-time capability to monitor material flows and provide timely notification of off-normal events, thereby improving the overall effectiveness of inspectors and potentially reducing the frequency of on-site inspections. This paper describes the mock F&W system and initial evaluations.