Year
2016
Abstract
Pyroprocessing is considered an alternative technology to PUREX for spent fuel treatment with inherent proliferation resistance. However, safeguarding pyroprocessing operation is known to be challenging due to the difficulty and uncertainty in material balance accountancy. Recently, the signature-based safeguards (SBS) concept, based on process monitoring (PM), has been suggested as a supplement technology for nuclear material accountancy (NMA). It uses real-time information (sensors) generated by the process to detect any kind of abnormal conditions. However, a framework to evaluate real time information, to decrease the uncertainty of material accountancy, has not been developed yet. The first step of applying process monitoring techniques, to increase the safeguardability of a pyroprocessing facility, requires constructing an outline for a tool that analyzes the contributions of each process monitoring device, for the material accountancy of the entire system. The tool should contain scenarios for installing process monitoring devices in each unit process and calculating the measurement uncertainty of sensitive materials. As this tool develops into a model, it could be used as a testbed to examine the safeguardability of the whole pyroprocessing system. Based on the combination of monitoring devices and knowledge of the relationship between the real-time data the amount of target materials can be derived from the NMA approaches. This model will allow the user to test various safeguards system installation scenarios, in order to determine material uncertainty.