Year
1994
Abstract
Four unattended plutonium assay systems have been developed for the new light-water reactor-mixed oxide (LWR-MOX) fuel fabrication facility at Hanau, Germany. The systems provide quantitative plutonium verification for all MOX pellet trays entering or leaving a large, intermediate store. Pellet-tray transport and storage systems are highly automated. Data from the \"l-Point\" (information point) assay systems will be shared by the EURATOM and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Inspectorates. The l-Point system integrates neutron coincidence counting (NCC) with electro-mechanical sensing (EMS). Provisions have been made for adding high-resolution gamma spectroscopy. The system accumulates data for every tray entering or leaving the store between inspector visits. During an inspection, data are analyzed and compared with operator declarations for the previous month. Specification of the l-point system has been a collaboration between the IAEA, EURATOM, and Siemens. Hardware has been developed by Siemens and Los Alamos by way of a bilateral agreement between the German BMFT and the U.S. Department of Energy. Siemens also provided the EMS subsystem, including software. Through the US Support Program to the IAEA, Los Alamos developed the NCC software (NCC COLLECT) and the software for merging and reviewing the EMS and NCC data (MERGE/REVIEW). This poster session describes the operation of the NCC system, safety features, tamper protection, quality assurance, and maintainability. Also, the MERGE/REVIEW software will be demonstrated. An accompanying paper briefly describes the overall l-Point system, but emphasizes the NCC subsystem, along with the NCC COLLECT and MERGE/REVIEW codes. Results of performance and acceptance testing are summarized, including assay measurement capability.