Year
1984
Abstract
The safekeeping of special nuclear material (SNM) requires the use of a container with opening and surface area protection, which means that any access to the nuclear material whether by opening or damaging the container shell must be recorded. Based on the optoelectronic sensor principle, a 55 gallon drum with opening and surface area protection has been developed for which the opening status as well as the integrity of its entire surface can be verified at any time in a tamperproof manner. This may be done either \"in situ\" or from a remote monitoring station by means of a computeraided remote verification system. The prototype of such a container has been successfully tested for more than five months at the Juelich Nuclear Research Center. It can be used both for national and international nuclear materials safeguards. It also offers itself for application in the planned \"International Plutonium Storage (IPS)\" system. The design and functioning of the container as well as the use of several containers in conjunction with a computer-aided remote verification system will be described.