Year
1974
Abstract
A simple method has been developed for the analysis of the safeguards status of fuel reprocessing plants and for the evaluation of various strategies for meeting inventory requirements for special nuclear materials (SNM). Vessel-by-vessel estimates of SNM inventory were made for a complete reprocessing system, from fuel elements through final product UO3- The inventory in each material balance area was divided into two categories, that which may be directly measured and that which must be estimated. A parametric study of the maximum allowable estimate error was conducted for a range of conditions that are typical of the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant. The analysis provided a unified basis for the evaluation of process design, process operation, analytical accuracy, and indirect measurement needs and their relationship to proposed SNM inventory standards.