VALIDATION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY (MC&A) SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS TOOL (MSET) AT IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY (INL)

A Nuclear Material Control and Accountability (MC&A) Functional Model has been developed to describe MC&A systems at facilities possessing Category I or II Special Nuclear Material (SNM). Emphasis is on achieving the objectives of 144 “Fundamental Elements” in key areas ranging from categorization of nuclear material to establishment of Material Balance Areas (MBAs), controlling access, performing quality measurements of inventories and transfers, timely reporting all activities, and detecting and investigating anomalies. An MC&A System Effectiveness Tool (MSET), including probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) technology for evaluating MC&A effectiveness and relative risk, has been developed to accompany the Functional Model. The functional model and MSET were introduced at the 48th annual International Nuclear Material Management (INMM) annual meeting in July, 20071,2. A survey/questionnaire is used to accumulate comprehensive data regarding the MC&A elements at a facility. Data is converted from the questionnaire to numerical values using the DELPHI method and exercises are conducted to evaluate the overall effectiveness of an MC&A system. In 2007 a peer review was conducted and a questionnaire was completed for a hypothetical facility and exercises were conducted. In the first quarter of 2008, a questionnaire was completed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and MSET exercises were conducted.more » The experience gained from conducting the MSET exercises at INL helped evaluate the completeness and consistency of the MC&A Functional Model, descriptions of fundamental elements of the MC&A Functional Model, relationship between the MC&A Functional Model and the MC&A PRA tool and usefulness of the MSET questionnaire data collection process.« less