External Review of the Next Generation Safeguards Initiatives Spent Fuel Nondestructive Assay Project

The Next Generation Safeguards Initiative spent fuel nondestructiveassay project is developing new safeguards technologies foruse in verification of bulk plutonium content in spent nuclearfuel assemblies. In this paper, we discuss the spent fuel safeguardsproject in general and an external review process that was used toinform down selection among the fourteen different techniquesstudied. The review committee process was an excellent way ofcollecting expert analysis of the techniques and to provide unbiasedinput to project management decisions. The committee’soverall impression was that the work performed by the researcherson this effort was impressive in both depth and breadth and willhave a significant impact on safeguards technology development.