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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Material accountancy in an electrometallurgical Fuel Conditioning Facility

Conference ·
OSTI ID:231392
; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Argonne National Lab.-West, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  2. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
The Fuel Conditioning Facility (FCF) treats spent nuclear fuel using an electrometallurgical process that separates the uranium from the fission products, sodium thermal bond and cladding materials. Material accountancy is necessary at FCF for two reasons: first, it provides a mechanism for detecting a potential loss of nuclear material for safeguards and security; second, it provides a periodic check of inventories to ensure that processes and material are under control. By weighing material entering and leaving a process, and using sampling results to determine composition, an inventory difference (ID) results when the measured inventory is compared to the predicted inventory. The ID and its uncertainty, based on error propagation, determines the degree of assurance that an operation proceeded according to expectations. FCF uses the ID calculation in two ways: closeout, which is the ID and uncertainty for a particular operational step, and material accountancy, which determines an ID and its associated uncertainty for a material balance area through several operational steps. Material accountancy over the whole facility for a specified time period assists in detecting diversion of nuclear material. Data from depleted uranium operations are presented to illustrate the method used in FCF.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
231392
Report Number(s):
ANL/TD/CP--89674; CONF-9606116--40; ON: DE96010797
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English