Control Point: An Electronic System For Replacing Hard Copy Forms In Accountable Nuclear Material Transactions

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Nuclear Material Control and Accountability Team has traditionally used hard-copy forms to capture changes in the amount of accountable nuclear material in a Material Balance Area (due to transfer, mix, split, etc.). This approach was labor-intensive and time consuming, as signatures needed to be captured on a triplicate form and returned to a Material Balance Area Representative before work could be performed. As part of the laboratory wide response to COVID-19, a team was formed to create the Control Point software application. This application shifts processes for recording accountable nuclear material transactions to an electronic system. It was developed using modern Agile software engineering practices and was deployed into production use at the beginning of 2021. This paper will discuss the design process for the Control Point application, the benefits in efficiency gained through its use, and the fundamental principles of Nuclear Material Control and Accountability codified in its programming.