NUCLEAR MATERIALS CONTROL IN A MULTI-JOB CONVERSION AND FABRICATION PUNT

Year
1967
Author(s)
James E. Lovett - Nuclear Materials & Equipment Corp.
Abstract
Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) operates both uranium and plutonium conversion and fabrication facilities on a job-shop basis. At a typical moment in time, the uranium facility will have in process one or two large orders to produce high enrichment uranium products, a multi-ton order for low enrichment U02, and a variety of small orders involving up to a few kilo- grams of enriched uranium or perhaps 20-50 kilograms of depleted uranium. The Plutonium facility generally will have fewer jobs, most of them relatively small; the use of plutonium in U. S. nuclear programs still being somewhat limited. The system of nuclear materials control designed to manage the multi- million dollar inventory is described, with emphasis on several specific problems which have arisen and the solutions which were adopted. Organizationally, the nuclear materials control system is the responsi- bility of the Manager of the Nuclear Materials Control Department. The Manager has a staff of twelve, including a secretary and an accountant. This staff maintains a series of storage vaults in which all uranium and plutoniura not in active use is kept. They also weigh or verify all receipts, shipments, and internal movements, and assist in physical inventories, which are taken every six months. The record system, consisting of a basic set of double entry records supported by subsidiary internal records, is described briefly. Physical handling procedures are described in more detail, as are the systems devised for controlling burnable waste and other slow salvage materials.