A PHYSICAL INVENTORY VERIFICATION EXERCISE AT A MIXED OXIDE FABRICATION FACILITY

A Physical Inventory Verification (PIV) exercise conducted by safeguards inspectors from the three divisions of Operations of the IAEA was held at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, Richland, U.S.A. in November 1983. The main objectives of the first exercise, which was sponsored by the U.S. Technical Support Programme, were for a group of experienced inspectors to evaluate a set of PIV procedures and a workbook for use at future exercises. In addition, the exercise provided a unique opportunity for inspectors to exchange ideas and experiences on PIV methods used in their respective divisions and contributed towards more standarized procedures. The feasibility of a technique for verifying the in process (glove-box) inventory was also examined and demonstrated. The inspectors were able to use the most up to date equipment available in the Agency and evaluate and discuss their results with experts in measurement techniques and statistics. The paper summarizes the activities performed by the teams, the problems encountered, the results of the measurements and the statistical analyses. Recommendations for improvements for similar exercises in the future are also made.