Item Monitoring at a Plutonium Facility

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has implemented Item Monitoring as a cost effective method to improve the quality of and confidence in nuclear material inventories. The item monitoring methodology implemented at LANL is based on programs at Y-12 National Security Complex and the Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group-Lynchburg. This technique includes generating a random sample listing from the nuclear material inventory of specific material balance areas (MBAs) and then physically verifying the location and identity of the selected items. Materials Control and Accountability personnel ensures that a list of items selected will be provided to appropriate MBA custodians on the first work day of the week. The listing includes item identity, location and Tampering Indicating Device (TID) information. Personnel from the materials control office monitors MBA activity on a daily basis using the Nuclear Material Accountability System (NMAS). Daily monitoring includes looking for coding discrepancies, for example; net weight, material name and item description. A MBA custodian and process operations personnel are responsible for locating each item selected and validating that the item is properly identified (i.e. labeled with correct MBA, type of Nuclear Material and material name unless an alternate identification scheme has been documented and approved in the MBA operation procedure). The listings are annotated according to existing physical inventory practices at the facility. Various types of anomalies or off-normal item conditions may be identified during this process, ensuring the validity of Item Monitoring and correcting any issues prior to the Physical Inventory