skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Object-oriented process modeling for material-at-risk estimation.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:975987

Nuclear analytical chemistry/materials characterization operations at Los Alamos support many programs related to national security. These operations work with a wide range of material masses (microgram to tens of grams) and several forms (metal, oxide, and liquid). We have used detailed flowsheets for the chemistry and characterization functions to construct a process model of the facility operations. The model, constructed with the commercially available package ExtendTMt,r acks material amounts and forms through the process of sample receiving through data return. The model calculates equipment utilization, throughput, and turnaroundtime, as well as the material-at-risk and source term as a function of time for facility safety analyses. We see that the source-term is highly dependent on the material holding time, as expected; thus, proper material management policies are essential to operating a facility within regulatory guidelines regarding material-at-risk. In addition, we see that segregation of operations based on the material used can be beneficial to the overall operations.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
975987
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-02-0495; LA-UR-02-495; TRN: US201018%%1072
Resource Relation:
Conference: Submitted to: April 2002 Radiation Protection and Shielding Division Topical Meetng in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English