Year
1995
Abstract
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires licensees who process special nuclear material (SNM) of strategic significance to monitor processes per 10 CFR Part 74.53. The main purpose of process monitoring is to have a program capable of detecting an abrupt loss of five formula kilograms of SNM within a specified time limit. Process monitoring of Babcock & Wilcox's (B&W) uranium extraction process is a challenge since it is a continuous process. Uranium is purified and concentrated by processing uranium feed solutions through a series of aqueous and organic stages. Effective monitoring of this continuous process requires measuring total input and output within a specified time segment, and taking discreet measurements of in-process material. Several subprocesses in the system do not lend itself readily to in-process measurements, and an estimate must be calculated. To be able to detect an abrupt loss, measurements of input, output and inprocess must be accomplished. B&W effectively performs process monitoring of this continuous process using discreet measurements.