Improved material accounting for plutonium processing facilities and a 235U-HTGR fuel fabrication facility

This study described the general safeguards characteristics of a material measurement system and then describes typical accounting systems for a fuel reprocessing plant, a plutonium nitrate to oxide conversion facility, a LWR mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility, and a high-enriched uranium HTGR fuels plant. These facilities are commercial size, envisioned to be operating in the mid-1980s. Present facilities tend to have large static inventories of material whereas future facilities will have a high material throughput. Systematic errors will pose the greatest limit on measurement systems in future facilities. Recommendations are given for the licensing review process for material accounting performance, the capability of measurement systems and regulations governing cumulative LEMUF and series of MUFs. Present regulations and the recommendations should result in improved material accounting in future facilities. Improvements specific to a particular facility were also identified. The recommendations should greatly improve the material accounting characteristics of future plutonium and high-enriched uranium processing facilities. Benefits of an improved material accounting system are compared with the costs of the improvements. The requirement for a formal quarterly inventory over the separations area of a reprocessing plant results in an annual lost production cost of $25M. This high penalty prevents reducing the formal inventory requirement from the present semiannual regulatory requirement. In all other cases, the cost-benefit relationship of the improvements is favorable. 8 fig., 53 tables