A Line of Defense Approach to Fissile Material Control

Conference · Sun Jul 09 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:225371

Holloway, S. P. ^[1]; Holloway, N. J. ^[1]

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1. Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom)

A crucial element of the safety policy of the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is that concerned with the safe control of fissile material in order to minimize the potential for unplanned criticality. The principles by which AWE controls fissile material advocate a simple Line of Defense (LOD) approach to assessing criticality-safety related aspects of fissile operations. An LOD assessment provides a measure of the depth of defense available to prevent general types of criticality accident and can be used to demonstrate compliance with the risk-based Basic Safety Limits (BSLs) and Objectives (BSOs) used by the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to judge the safety of operations in accordance with its Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs) for Nuclear Plants. This paper discusses the LOD concept, the basis of LOD assessment and describes LODs specific to criticality control.

• Research Organization: Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• OSTI ID: 225371
• Report Number(s): CONF-950787; TRN: IM9621%%301
• Resource Relation: Journal Volume: 24; Conference: 36. Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management , Palm Desert, CA (United States), 9-12 Jul 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Institute of Nuclear Materials Management 36. annual meeting: Proceedings. Volume 24; PB: 1347 p.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION
FISSILE MATERIALS
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
SAFETY
RADIATION ACCIDENTS
CRITICALITY
MONITORING
CONTROL SYSTEMS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
UK Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
Safe Control of Fissile Material
Unplanned Criticality Minimization
Line of Defense (LOD)
Risk-Based Basic Safety Limits (BSLs) and Objectives (BSOs)
Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs) for Nuclear Plants
Assessment
Criticality Control