The Ever-Evolving Nuclear Material Inventory Assessment (NMIA) Data Base

In 1996, at the 37th Annual Meeting of the INMM, we presented a paper entitled “Data Base Concepts for Managing the DOE Nuclear Material Inventory” (J.D. Beams, R.G. Behrens, S.R. Jones). This paper gave an overview of the type of information available to nuclear material managers, and recommended the creation of a new information source - the Comprehensive Item Data Base (CIDB) - to address future nuclear material management needs. In 1998, we created the first prototype of a CIDB - referred to as the Nuclear Material Inventory Assessment (NMIA) Data Base - and, for the last decade, have continued to evolve the NMIA Data Base to better address nuclear material management information needs. This paper discusses the current status of the NMIA Data Base - how it is maintained and updated, the type of information it contains, the standard and ad hoc reports it generates - and gives recommendations for improvements. Recommendations are given in the areas of timeliness, automation, and connectivity, with particular attention given to the interconnectivity of the NMIA Data Base with other Department of Energy (DOE) information systems including the Nuclear Material Management Safeguards System, Nuclear Component Staging Reports, Tritium Simulation System, and Production and Planning Directive model.