Development of a near-real-time accountability system
This paper discusses design issues for establishing a near-real-time accountability (NRTA) system for modem fuel fabrication facilities; however, the approach for developing an NRTA could be applied to many nuclear facilities planned for construction. The proposed design is for a computerized materials accounting system capable of providing near-real-time materials balances and associated variances. The system must accommodate data from both destructive analysis (DA) and nondestructive analyses (NDA) of material-in-process and interim storage. DA and mass measurements are used by facility operations for process control and drawing material balances. NDA measurements will be used primarily by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors for verification of inventories. An essential component of the NRTA system is a software interface between the facility`s process control computer and the NRTA computer. The purpose of the interface is to facilitate the use of process measurement and material transfer data to compute materials unaccounted for (MUF), limit of error of MUF (LEMUF), and covariance matrices for a sequence of MUFs. The design of the interface facilitates use of LANL developed software Materials Accounting with Sequential Testing (MAWST) for the NRTA calculations described above. The basic approach involves a comprehensive systems analysis to evaluate the NRTA system design; development of simulation software for analysis of process flows, holdup, and MUF/LEMUF; development of evaluation software for analysis of NRTA systems; and preparation of design specifications for software to implement NRTA.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 104291
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-95-2795; CONF-9509215-1; ON: DE95016925
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international American Nuclear Society (ANS) conference, Jackson Hole, WY (United States), 24-29 Sep 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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