Implementation and operational experience of an integrated fuel information service at the BNFL THORP facility

An integrated data management service for the fuel storage areas of British Nuclear Fuel Limited's (BNFL's) Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) Division has been implemented to replace several independent systems. This fuel information service (FIS) has brought the nuclear materials accountancy and safeguards records together with the operating records into one database from which all safeguards reports are made. The BNFL's contractual and commercial and technical data on the stored fuel, required to plan reprocessing campaigns, has also been brought into the common database. A commercially available software package, widely used in warehousing applications and the food and drugs industries, has been used as the basis of FIS. System enhancements and customization have been developed in partnership between THORP Division, BNFL IT Services, and the software supplier. The FIS is the first stage in a project to integrate the materials management systems throughout the THORP nuclear recycling business, including irradiated fuel receipt and storage, reprocessing and storage of products, mixed-oxide fuel manufacture, and the conditioning and storage of wastes