Year
2009
Abstract
The Separations & Safeguards Performance Model (SSPM) developed at Sandia National Laboratories simulates reprocessing material flows to provide a platform for virtual safeguards testing. This model has been used for examining materials accountancy, the integration of process monitoring measurements, diversion scenarios, and the interaction between domestic safeguards, international safeguards, and security. This research has been used to determine the instrumentation requirements necessary to achieve near real time accountability (NRTA) of actinides. NRTA could lead to significant cost reductions for the plant by eliminating the need for accountancy flushouts. The advantage of NRTA is that a complete inventory balance is completed perhaps every 8 hours, so the total measurement uncertainty does not need to be as low to still detect small protracted diversions. Depending on the material balance area, these additional measurements can have errors between 1 and 5% which may allow for non-destructive techniques to be used. In addition, NRTA can take advantage of a number of process monitoring measurements that are already in place and available for monitoring plant operations. These results and their implications will be discussed.