THE CHANGING ROLE OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS ACCOUNTING

Nuclear materials accounting and accounting systems at what have been DOE Production sites are evolving into management decision support tools. As the sites are moving into the mode of making decisions on how to disposition complex and varied nuclear material holdings, the need for complete and many times different information has never been greater. The artificial boundaries that have historically been established between what belongs in the classic material control and accountability (MC&A) records versus what goes into the financial, radiological control, waste, or decommissioning and decontamination records are being challenged. In addition, the tools historically used to put material into different categories such as scrap codes, composition codes, etc. have been found to be inadequate for the information needs of today. In order to be cost effective and even more importantly to effectively manage our inventories, the new information systems we design have to have the flexibility to serve many needs. In addition, those tasked with the responsibility of managing the inventories must also expand beyond the same artificial boundaries. This paper addresses some of the things occurring at the Savannah River Site to support the changing role of nuclear materials accounting.