Year
1994
Abstract
The DOE graded safeguards approach—as described in DOE Order 5633.3A, Control and Accountability of Nuclear Materials, and its guide—requires the determination of category levels of nuclear material locations to establish protection requirements for these locations. A critical parameter related to category determination is knowledge of the attractiveness level of the nuclear material with respect to use in a nuclear explosive device. DOE Order 5633.3A and its guide provide the policy basis for determining the attractiveness level of various forms and types of special nuclear material (SNM); however, these requirements and guidance are necessarily general and sometimes based on arbitrary criteria. Currently, there are large quantities of nuclear material on inventory within the DOE that need attractiveness determinations to ensure appropriate protection controls. Specific forms of these materials include materials in matrices requiring special processing, irradiated SNM that does not meet criteria for self-protecting, low concentration SNM, SNM as numerous small items, and bulk nonportable SNM items. This paper discusses the technical basis for applying material concentration limits for solids and liquids that can influence the various factors and criteria affecting the attractiveness level of SNM. Holdup and rollup considerations for determining category levels will be discussed as well.