NUCLEAR MATERIALS CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM (SELF) ASSURANCE

Maintaining a current knowledge of the status of a facilities' Nuclear Materials Control and Accountability (MC&A) program has grown in importance to management. System (self) Assurance is an internal method for achieving MC&A compliance, identifying and correcting deficiencies and developing upgrading plans. System Assurance is, in the broader sense, an outcome derived from maintaining quality and reliability over the entire MC&A system. The approach provides an improvement over current fragmented and piecemeal internal MC&A audits. A proper System Assurance approach uses standard quality assurance principles to assure that facility policies, procedures, and operational controls are properly applied and carried out. The goal is to achieve overall excellence in the MC&A program.