Field test of short-notice random inspections for inventory-change verification at a low-enriched-uranium fuel-fabrication plant
- International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)
- International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria); and others
An approach of short-notice random inspections (SNRIs) for inventory-change verification can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of international safeguards at natural or low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel fabrication plants. According to this approach, the plant operator declares the contents of nuclear material items before knowing if an inspection will occur to verify them. Additionally, items about which declarations are newly made should remain available for verification for an agreed time. Then a statistical inference can be made from verification results for items verified during SNRIs to the entire populations, i.e. the entire strata, even if inspectors were not present when many items were received or produced. A six-month field test of the feasibility of such SNRIs took place at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division during 1993. Westinghouse personnel made daily declarations about both feed and product items, uranium hexafluoride cylinders and finished fuel assemblies, using a custom-designed computer ``mailbox``. Safeguards inspectors from the IAEA conducted eight SNRIs to verify these declarations. They arrived unannounced at the plant, in most cases immediately after travel from Canada, where the IAEA maintains a regional office. Items from both strata were verified during the SNRIs by meant of nondestructive assay equipment.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Program of Technical Assistance to Safeguards (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 93938
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-61033; CONF-9505227-2; ON: DE95011645; TRN: 95:018424
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17. ERSADA symposium on safeguards and nuclear material management, Aachen (Germany), 9-11 May 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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