THE BLEND DOWN MONITORING SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION AT THE PADUCAH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT

Agreement between the governments of the United States and the Russian Federation for the U.S. purchase of low enriched uranium (LEU) derived from highly enriched uranium (HEU) from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons call for the establishment of transparency measures to provide confidence that nuclear nonproliferation goals are being met. To meet these transparency goals, the agreements call for the installation of nonintrusive U.S. instruments to monitor the down blending of HEU to LEU. The Blend Down Monitoring System (BDMS) has been jointly develop by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to continuously monitor 235U enrichments and mass flow rates at Russian blending facilities. Prior to its installation in Russian facilities, the BDMS was installed and operated in a UF6 flow loop in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant simulating flow and enrichment conditions expected in a typical down-blending facility. A Russian delegation to the U.S. witnessed the equipment demonstrating in June, 1998. To conduct the demonstration in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP), the BDMS was required to meet stringent Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing, safety and operational requirements. The Paducah demonstration was an important milestone in achieving the operational certification for the BDMS use in Russian facilities.