Trial Operations of the Tamper-Indicating Devices at the Krasnoyarsk Electrochemical Plant

Year
2009
Author(s)
Krishan Mutreja - US Department of Energy/ National Nuclear Security Administration
Esther Ku - US Department of Energy/ National Nuclear Security Administration
Bradley Weil - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Michael Carroll - E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Eduard Antonov - Electrochemical Plant -- Zelenogorsk
Abstract
As a result of the U.S.–Russian Tamper Indicating Device (TID) Working Group’s accelerated efforts to facilitate the modernization of TID programs at State Corporation Rosatom nuclear facilities, the Electrochemical Plant (ECP) was one of several sites selected at which to conduct a trial operation of an upgraded TID program. This paper discusses the joint Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and ECP trial operation activities in the area of material control and accounting system enhancement at ECP to ensure safeguards with respect to highly enriched uranium (HEU) handling. The 6-month trial operation involved modernized TID design development, manufacture, and implementation at the HEU–low enriched uranium (LEU) process. The TID is customized to ECP technical conditions of operation, including its application in the computer-based material control and accounting system. TID bar coding allows automation of all operations performed with TIDs, starting from its manufacture up to disposal. This paper describes the various stages and results of the TID trial operation and recommendations for application and design modification.