Year
2002
Abstract
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been faced with increasing obsolescence in many of its detection instruments. As a result, it has been necessary to redesign various instruments to replace those that are aging and can no longer be maintained or even built. Nevertheless, challenges remain to build instruments that will function reliably over the long term. Numerous obstacles must be overcome in order to guarantee the reliability and availability of these new instruments. These include: • Availability of critical components for assembly, both in the short and long term • Standardized assembly lists • Qualified assembly and test engineers • Adequate means for verifying operability • Ability to produce instruments over the long term • Stockpile of parts As a result, the U.S. Support Program (USSP) to the IAEA for Safeguards developed a unique set of requirements to ensure instrument availability and reliability over the long term. This paper will discuss the USSP initiative as it relates to the replacement of the GRAND-3 by the Los Alamos-designed MiniGRAND timer/counter, with emphasis on the cooperative technical transfer and commercialization project between the technical designers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the manufacturing organization at Canberra Aquila, Inc. (Aquila). Highlights address the challenges listed above, and will also include how the technical transfers were accomplished, synergistic technical cooperation, testing, procurement, documentation, and progress to date.