TECHNOLOGIES FOR REAL TIME MONITORING OF LOAD CELLS FOR INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS APPLICATIONS

Along with the forecasted significant growth in the global nuclear power industry is a projected large increase in the demand for uranium enrichment services. This demand is expected to be met through the expansion of separative capacities at existing facilities or the construction of new facilities. This expansion will place additional burdens on the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to effectively monitor the movement and handling of nuclear materials. It is therefore necessary to investigate, develop, and adapt more-efficient and morereliable methodologies and systems for the IAEA to use in collecting and correlating inspection data from declared processes and inventories. The last decade has seen technological advances that can substantially impact the automation of methodologies for collecting and correlating data from a variety of devices. The IEEE 1451 Smart Transducer family of standards defines methodologies to make transducers plug-and-play and to make the systems self-configuring via the use of the Transducer Electronic Data Sheets. The growth of the World Wide Web has produced better methodologies to secure communications over the Ethernet and has led to the adoption of the Ethernet for sensor networks and process monitoring. Two additional Ethernetbased standards provide time synchronization among different modules (IEEE 1588) and power for the modules (IEEE 802.3af). This paper proposes a system employing these emerging technologies that could be used by the IAEA to continuously monitor the weights of cylinders at the feed and withdrawal stations of uranium enrichment plants. Implementing the IEEE 1451 standards allows the system to be self-configuring, with quicker installation and efficient maintenance. Data messages can be authenticated and secured with advances in encryption and authentication methodologies in Ethernet communications. Using the Precision Time Protocol of the IEEE 1588 standard provides more-reliable correlation of the collected data. The individual sensor modules can be powered over the Ethernet connection, allowing modules to be located virtually anywhere and providing an indication if the cable has been disconnected. Such a system can potentially meet many of the future IAEA needs regarding uranium enrichment and other bulk-handling facilities.