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U.S. Department of Energy
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Report of the Material Control and Material Accounting Task Force: summary

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6653465

A special review was made of the safeguards maintained by licensees possessing 5 kg or more of strategic special nuclear material (SSNM), i.e., plutonium, uranium-233, or uranium enriched in the uranium-235 isotope to 20 percent or more. A Task Force was formed to define the roles and objectives of material control and material accounting in the NRC safeguards program; recommend goals for material control and material accounting systems based on their roles and objectives; assess the extent to which the existing regulatory base meets or provides the capability to meet the recommended goals; and to provide direction for material control and material accounting development, including both near-term and long-term upgrades. Based on results of Task Force investigations it is recommended that licensee plans for measurement control programs be submitted in response to Section 70.57(c) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Other recommendations include the review and upgrading, as necessary, of measurement error propagation models used by each licensee; revision of Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS) reporting entities for SSNM licensees to be consistent with the partitioning of facilities into plants or, if appropriate, accounting units; review of NMMSS reporting entities for SSNM licensees to assure that data for high enriched uranium operations are clearly separated from low enriched uranium operations; upgrading of the editing by NMMSS of reported licensee safeguards data for accuracy and consistency; and the acquisition of (a) a secure interactive computer capability for use in collecting, storing, sorting, and analyzing special nuclear material accounting data, and (b) associated flexible computer software that presents safeguards information in a succinct and comprehensive manner.

Research Organization:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA). Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
OSTI ID:
6653465
Report Number(s):
NUREG-0450(Vol.1)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English