Target Elimination by Inventory Configuration Management

This paper describes the Inventory Configuration Management (ICM) system implemented at Los Alamos National Laboratory to address the problem of providing safeguards and security for a facility consisting of multiple category III and IV material balance areas (MBAs). DOE regulations require protection against theft of a category I quantity of special nuclear material (SNM) by rollup (i.e., acquisition of a goal quantity from multiple MBAs). Protection against the rollup theft scenario by an insider adversary requires a clear knowledge of inventory quantities, item stratification, and throughput. Implementation of the ICM system provides the necessary information to maintain inventories at levels consistent with the existing safeguards and security (S&S) system, or to indicate when proposed changes in operations may require changes in S&S. The goal of this system is to provide timely data for managing inventory at both the MBA and facility level. The purpose of this system is to provide assurance that the item-quantity stratification of SNM within the facility remains within limits that are consistent with vulnerability assessment assumptions.