A DECISION STRUCTURE FOR PLANT SAFEGUARDS

A systematic study has been performed to determine the information necessary for meaningful safeguards decisions. The resulting Safeguards Information System (SIS) encompasses all decision makers, in general terms, from those at ERDA Headquarters to the operator on the process line. Only decision makers within the plant are considered in this paper. The basic premises and steps employed in developing SIS are described. These include rapid two-level reporting of abnormal situations, identification of the safeguards decision makers, deduction of safeguards information generated and abnormal situations observed by each as a result of operational tasks, and to whom the information is transmitted. The content of information flowing to and from each decision maker from all sources is established and assurance is given that each decision maker receives the necessary information and that extraneous information is held to a minimum. By means of the analysis, a decision structure for safeguards becomes apparent, the decision capability of each decision maker can be specified, and the sources and flows of information necessary for meaningful safeguards decisions can be identified. The application of the general SIS, to serve as the basis of a plant-specific SIS, is also considered.