Withdrawal assay monitoring at US Enrichment Facilities

The United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) controls two uranium enrichment facilities that produce enriched uranium for both military and commercial use. The process requires both feed and withdrawal operations. The withdrawal process requires both product (enriched uranium) withdrawal stations and tails (depleted uranium) withdrawal stations. A previous prototype system, ''X-330 Tails Cylinder Assay Monitor,'' was developed as a demonstration for the tails withdrawal station at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS). The prototype system was done in response to potential problems with the original method for determining the hourly weighted assay averages that are used to calculate the final weighted assay of the cylinder. In the original method the 235U assay of uranium hexaflouride withdrawn from PORTS cascade into tails cylinders is determined every 5 min by measurements from an in-line assay mass spectrometer. An average value for a 1-h period is then calculated by area control room personnel and assigned to the accumulated weight in the cylinder for the period. A potential problem with this method is that cylinder weight is not automatically recorded as often as the assay. The assay and withdrawal rate can both vary during the given period. This variation results in inaccuracies in the hourly weighted assays that are used to calculate the final weighted assay of the cylinder. Laboratory analysis is considered to be the most accurate method for determining the final cylinder assay; however, the cost and safety considerations of redundant cylinder handling limit the number of cylinders sampled to less than 10%