Selection and evaluation of RFID tags and tag placement for
automated inventory of containers

In designing radio frequency identification (RFID) systems for the automated inventory of assets, it is important to select appropriate RFID tags and methods of tag attachment to achieve a high performing and reliable system. Tag selection is especially important when designing for the unique attributes of nuclear material containers, which have constraints on tag placement, and which are often used in challenging environments for radio frequency propagation. Additionally, RFID often targets much larger applications compared to containers for nuclear materials, which influences tag design and technology trends within the industry. We will present approaches we took to identify suitable commercial off the shelf (COTS) RFID tags designed for other industries and applications and evaluate them as candidates for tagging nuclear material containers. We will cover the technical details of our approach to RFID tag selection and evaluation, as well as lessons learned from both the technical and non-technical aspects of the RFID market.