Year
2007
Abstract
An automated system generates real-time data that can be used to track and measure the status of processes and materials at any given point in time. For a variety of reasons, nuclear facilities are becoming increasingly automated and will require minimum manual operation. This trend provides systems analysts with the means to utilize the abundance of information to demonstrate the facility’s ability to resist proliferation. An in-depth analysis of the data generated by the system, when monitored and secured effectively, can lead to greater transparency of nuclear fuel cycle activities. First, a facility must be defined as a system and described in detail, outlining every activity, facility components involved in each activity, and the status of the sensors associated with each component during normal operations. A set of expected signals, describing the status of the sensors during a successful activity, is generated a priori in accordance to the system analysis and facility design. In principle, a comparison between expected signals and observed signals (data acquired in real-time and which describes the status of the sensors while activities are performed) is used as the foundation for identifying discrepancies that may indicate an increase in proliferation risk. Since expected signals represent the status of the facility when an activity is completed as declared, any difference between expectations and observations triggers an alarm to suggest that immediate attention is required, allowing the advanced transparency system to evaluate proliferation risk in real time. Since 2005, Sandia National Laboratories and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have been working together to demonstrate a methodology capable of assessing proliferation risk in support of overall plant transparency. This paper describes how system data generated by the Fuel Handling Training Model designed for the Monju Fast Reactor at the International Cooperation and Development Training Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is being used as a test base to demonstrate these concepts.