SAFEGUARDS BY DESIGN FOR THE ADVANCED FUEL CYCLE FACILITY (AFCF)

The planned Advanced Fuel Cycle Facility (AFCF) is intended to support the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) by demonstrating the processes required to support an Advanced Burner Reactor, with enhanced proliferation resistance. The AFCF is envisioned to be collocated at a single site and consist of (1) aqueous and pyro-chemical fuel reprocessing and (2) ceramic and metal fuel fabrication. As part of the AFCF conceptual design process, the “Safeguards by Design” methodology is being utilized. In basic terms, Safeguards by Design implies the consideration of safeguards requirements in parallel with the process and facility design, rather than after the fact as has often been done in the past. While the concept is simple enough, the practical implementation is not. Due to the limited use of this approach in the past, the specifics of the methodology are not well established and/or documented. The practical implementation of Safeguards by Design requires a safeguards design methodology that provides for the most significant safeguards considerations early in the process and facility design activities. For instance, the facility layout and floor space should be defined early and changed as little as possible throughout the design process, since these changes can have a large impact on the estimated cost. Aspects of this methodology include definition of the (1) requirements, (2) material balance areas (MBAs), (3) accountancy measurements and additional measures, (4) data collection and management and (5) process monitoring. The Safeguards by Design methodology attempts to sequence these activities to best match those of the process and facility design. The AFCF will be used as a case in point, and the safeguards design methodology specifically developed will be described in the following paper.