AN INDEX OF MODELING AND SIMULATION ACTIVITIES AT OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATOR

A 2008 review of nuclear safeguards by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) states that U.S. support for the international safeguards system needed a revitalization of safeguards technology, human resources, and human capital development. 1 To address this problem, NNSA launched the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI) to develop the policies, concepts, technologies, expertise, and infrastructure necessary to sustain the safeguards system as its mission evolves over the next 25 years. Modeling and Simulation (M&S), one of the many ideas mentioned in the 2008 paper, focuses on the usefulness of computer and physical models in elucidating many of the complex occurrences in nuclear operations. The International Safeguards Group within the Global Nuclear Security Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) began working to catalog M&S projects at ORNL in January 2010 with the goal of cataloging projects that involve the nuclear fuel cycle and that can be adapted to safeguards applications. Staff scheduled interviews with scientists from a variety of divisions across ORNL to learn more about their respective tasks and created a quad chart to summarize the characteristics of each specific project. These quad charts were then placed into a Microsoft Access database, which will eventually be published for site-wide access. Staff anticipates that the database will eventually span the entire DOE complex, establishing better communication and integration between the national laboratories and reducing the risk of stovepiping. The database will be continuously updated and provide an accessible user-friendly interface. On completion of the ORNL section of the database, the next step is to reach out to the other DOE national laboratories and catalog projects of a similar nature. The team’s goals for the future include updating the existing data as projects advance, further enhancing database functionality, and adding data sources as they become available. The database will serve not only as an excellent reference tool for people beginning new projects in an M&S area but also as an educational resource to teach others the importance of M&S