REPORTING DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ASTERISK QUANTITY ITEMS

Recent Office of Safeguards and Security (OSS) initiatives with resource reviews have brought about the need to examine Department of Energy (DOE) safeguards and security policy and practices throughout the complex. In September 1993, the Materials Control and Accountability (MC&A) branch along with the support of a representative from the Field Operations Division conducted an indepth study of the use and significance of asterisk quantity items to the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS). By definition, asterisk quantity items are nuclear material items whose element and/or isotope weight is 0.05 to 0.49, of a reporting unit, inclusive. DOE Orders 5633.4, NUCLEAR MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS: DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING, dated February 9, 1988, and 5633.5, NUCLEAR MATERIALS REPORTING AND DATA SUBMISSION PROCEDURES, dated May 22, 1987, define the reporting and data submission procedure requirements for asterisk quantities. This paper provides a background of the reporting documentation requirements for asterisk quantity items, describes the efforts to determine the use and significance of asterisk quantities, and outlines the actions of OSS to update current policy in response to this study. Expected impacts on DOE nuclear material operations and procedures will be presented as well.