ML20154M097
| ML20154M097 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/28/1986 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NUREG-0430, NUREG-0430-V06-N01, NUREG-430, NUREG-430-V6-N1, NUDOCS 8603130320 | |
| Download: ML20154M097 (15) | |
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NUREG-0430 Vol. 6, No.1 LICENSED FUEL FACILITY STATUS REPORT INVENTORY DIFFERENCE DATA JANUARY 1985 - JUNE 1985 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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i Available from Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office Post Office Box 37082 Washington, D.C. 20013-7082 ,
A year'a subscription consists of 2 isstm for ,
this publication.
Single copies of this publication ~;
are available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 6
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NUREG 0430 Vol. 6, No.1 LICENSED FUEL FACILITY STATUS REPORT INVENTORY DIFFERENCE DATA JANUARY 1985 JUNE 1985
$ateP sh d?feb vary 198 0FFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
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ABSTRACT NRC is committed to the periodic publication of licensed fuel facilities' inventory difference data, following agency review of the information and completion of any related investigations. Information in this report includes inventory difference data for active fuel fabrication facilities possessing more than one effective kilogram of high enriched uranium, low enriched ura-nium, plutonium, or uranium-233.
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CONTENTS
- f. age Abstract............................................................. iii Abbreviations........................................................ vii Inventory Difference Data ........................................... 1 D e f i n i t i o n s o f T e rm s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Tabulation of Inventory Differences .................................. 5 v
ABBREVIATIONS CFR Code of Federal Regulations HEU high enriched uranium ID inventory difference LEID limit of error of the inventory difference LEU low enriched uranium MUF material unaccounted for NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Pu plutonium SNM special nuclear material -
S-R shipper-receiver U-235 uranium-235 v11
LICENSED FUEL FACILITY STATUS REPORT INVENTORY DIFFERENCE DATA Inventory Difference Data An inventory difference (ID), also referred to as material unaccounted for (MUF),
is the difference between the quantity of special nuclear material (SNM) that a licensee's accounting records show should be on hand and that which a licensee's physical inventory shows is actually on hand.
The ID data presented are for active, licensed facilities that are authorized to possess, in an unsealed form, at least one effective kilogram of special nuclear material (that is, high enriched uranium (HEU), plutonium, and ura-nium-233) or at least one effective kilogram of low enriched uranium (LEU).
For example, LEU is the nuclear fuel used in commercial light-water nuclear power reactors. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires licen-sees possessing significant quantities of HEU, plutonium, or uranium-233 to conduct an inventory every 2 months. Licensees possessing one effective kilo-gram of low enriched uranium are required to inventory every 6 months, except for General Electric Co., Wilmington, NC, which is required to inventory every 12 months.
It is important to understand the distinction between the low strategic signifi-cance of LEU and the higher strategic significance of HEU and plutonium. Most LEU is enriched to a level of 1 to 4 percent in the isotope uranium-235. At this level of enrichment, the uranium is not capable of sustaining the kind of nuclear reaction that takes place in a nuclear explosion.
NRC cafeguards requirements covering LEU are graded to reflect its low strate-gic significance. They include a formal structured system for material control and accounting and minimal physical security measures. On the other hand, because of the higher strategic significance of HEU and plutonium, NRC requires licensees to provide substantial physical protection of this material in addition to controlling and accounting for it. Physical protection of this material includes safeguards measures such as barriers, intrusion alarms, armed guards, and offsite police response capabilities. Internal systems to control the move-ment of HEU are also required by NRC.
ids arise when nuclear materials are processed, particularly when chemical oper-ations are involved. These differences can result from sariations in measuring and processing, measurement inaccuracy or imprecision, unmeasured flows from the process, unmeasured inventory, bookkeeping errors, or loss or theft. Although an ID larger than its overall measurement uncertainty may signal an abnormal situation requiring determination of the cause, the fact that an ID falls within its associated limit of error--even an ID of zero- provides no automatic or con-clusive proof that loss or theft of material has not occurred. Therefore, NRC relies on information provided not only by the material accounting system but also by the internal control system, the physical security system, NRC inspec-tions and evaluations, and NRC and licensee investigations.
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The concept of the limit of error of the inventory difference (LEID) is a method that licensees and NRC currently use to determine the significance of the 10. LEID is a calculated estimate of the measurement uncertainties that are associated with a plant's processing activity. The ID should be less than the LEID 19 out of 20 times, if the ID results only from measurement uncertainty.
Because an ID that exceeds its associated LEID may be an indication of process-ing probler 4, biased or otherwise inaccurate measurements, bookkeeping errors, or loss or thef t of material, NRC accordingly requires licensees to take increas-ingly stronger investigative actions depending on how much the inventory dif-ference exceeds both LEID and minimum quantities specified in 10 CFR $74.13(b)..
(namely, 200 grams of Pu, 300 grams of U-235 contained in HEU, or 9,000 grams of U-235 contained in LEU). If the 10 exceeds its LEID, but does not exceed the minimum quantities, no formal investigation is required. However, the licensee is required to try to determine why the 10 exceeded the LEIO.
The ids for this reporting period (January 1 through June 30,1985) are indi-cated in the Tabulation of Inventory Differences that begins on page 5 of this report. An explanation of the significance, and in some cases, the source of the ids is included in the last column of the table. None of the ids was such as to require an NRC investigation.
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Definitions of Terms
- 1. Special nuclear material (SNM): (1) Plutonium, uranium-233, uranium enriched in the isotope 235, and any other material that the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of Section 51 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, determined to be special nuclear material, but does not include source material; or (2) any material artificially enriched in any of the foregoing, but does not include source material.
- 2. Source material: (1) Uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form or (2) ores which contain by weight one-twentieth of one percent (0.05%) or more of: (i) uranium, (ii) thorium, or (iii) any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material.
- 3. Effective kiloqram of s)ecial nuclear material: (1) For plutonium and uranium-233, their weigit in kilograms; (2) for uranium with an enrichment in the isotope uranium-235 of 0.01 (1%) and above, its element weight in kilograms multiplied by the square of its enrichment expressed as a deci-mal weight fraction; and (3) for uranium with an enrichment in the isotope uranium-235 below 0.01 (1%), its element weight in kilograms multiplied by i 0.0001.
, 4. Strategic special nuclear material: Uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope), uranium-233, or plu-tonium. ,
- 5. Isotope: One of two or more atoms with the same number of protons, but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
- 6. High enriched uranium (HFU): Uranium whose isotope content is 20 percent er more uranium-235 by weight.
- 7. Low enriched uranium (LEU): Uranium whose isotope content is less than 20 percent uranium-235 by weight.
- 8. Inventory difference (10): The arithmetic difference between a book inven- ,
tory and the corresponding physical inventory, calculated by subtracting ending inventory (EI) plus removals (R) from beginning inventory (01) plus additions (A). Mathematically, this becomes 10 = (BI + A) - (El + R).
- 9. Limit of error: The uncertainty component used in constructing a 95 per-cent confidence interval associated with a quantity after any recognized bias has been eliminated or its effect accounted for.
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! 10. Limit of error of the inventory difference (LEID): That limit of error
! associated with the inventory difference after the material balance data l have been adjusted for any recognized bias.
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! 11. "The inventory difference falls within the a)plicable regulatory limit":
l The ID does not exceed 1.5 times any applica)le LEID limits specified in l
10 CFR 70.51(e)(5) or other LEID limits approved by the NRC under l 10 CFR 70.51(e)(6).
l l l 12. Negative inventory difference: A situation that occurs when the amount
! of material on hand, as determined by physical inventory, exceeds the l amount of material being carried on the books (that is, there appears to I be a gain of material). Mathematically, a negative ID is written as -ID l l or is shown in parentheses. A negative ID is also referred to as an "10 l
gain."
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- 13. Positive inventory differenco: A situation that occurs when the amount I of material on hand, as determined by physical inventory, is less than l the amount of material being carried on the books (that is, there appears l to be a loss of material). Mathematically, a positive ID is written as !
l +10 or ID (without designation of sign). A positive ID is also referred l
to as an "ID loss."
l 14. Shipper-receiver difference (S-R difference): The arithmetic difference
' between the quantity of special nuclear material measured by the shipper and the quantity measured by the receiver.
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Tabulation of Inventory Differences Inventory Difference Licensee Material Inventory (Grams of Licensee No. SNM- Type Date U-235 or Pu) Explanation Babcock & Wilcox, 42 HEU 1/5/85 -265 The inventory difference falls within Naval Nuclear Fuel the applicable regulatory limit.
Div.,
Lynchburg, VA HEU 3/2/85 -462 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 4/22/85 1,994 The inventory difference exceeded the limit of error. An investigation was performed by the licensee and the cause of the ID could not be determined.
HEU 6/29/85 114 The inventory difference falls within 5" the applicable regulatory limit.
Babcock & Wilcox, 778 HEU 4/19/85 20 The inventory difference falls within Lynchburg Research the applicable regulatory limit. j j
Center, Lynchburg, VA Pu 4/19/85 19 The inventory difference falls within l
- the applicable regulatory limit. l 1
Babcock & Wilcox, 1168 LEU 2/22/85 995 The inventory difference falls within i i
Commercial Nuclear the applicable regulatory limit. I Fuel Plant, Lynchburg, VA
Inventory Difference Licensee Materia Inventory Grass of j Licensee No. SNM - Type Date U-235 or Pu) Explanation i Cintichem, Inc. 639 HEU 1/4/85 15 The inventory difference falls within Tuxedo, NY the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 3/5/85 9 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 5/1/85 -6 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
Combustion Engineer- 33 LEU - -
No inventory was conducted during the ing, Hematite, MO reporting period.
, Combustion Engineer- 1067 LEU 3/19/85 3,252 The inventory difference falls within ing, Windsor, CT the applicable regulatory limit.
Exxon Nuclear Co., 1227 LEU 2/28/85 -6,753 The inventory difference falls within Richland, WA the applicable regulatory limit.
GA Technologies, 696 HEU 1/14/85 -106 The inventory difference falls within La Jolla, CA ,
the appl. cable regulatory limit.
HEU 3/18/85 -122 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
LEU 3/18/85 -13 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 5/20/85 -282 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
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Inventory Difference Licensee Material Inventory (Grams of Licensee No. SNM- Type Date U-235 or Pu) Explanation General Electric, 1D97 LEU N/A N/A No inventory was conducted during the i Wilmington, NC reporting period.
Nuclear Fuel 124 HEU 2/28/85 2,110 The inventory difference exceeded the Services, Erwin, TN limit of error. An investigation was performed by the licensee and the cause of the ID could not be determined.*
LEU 5/3/85 -256 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 5/15/85 -2,277 The inventory difference exceeded the l
'd limit of error. An investigation was i performed by the licensee and the cause of the ID could not be determined.*
l Rockwell, ESG, 21 Pu 1/31/85 -4 The inventory difference falls within Santa Susana, CA the applicable regulatory limit.
Pu 4/1/85 -2 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory-limit.
Pu 6/3/85 -5 The inventory difference falls within l
the applicable regulatory limit.
HEU 6/3/85 -3 The inventory difference falls within the applicable regulatory limit.
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Although the licensee could not determine the cause of the two ids exceeding their associated LEIDs, it should be noted that the combined 10 for the two periods was a gain of 167 grams U-235 which would be within the combined LEID if such a value were calculated. Also, the cumulative ID for the period April 20, 1983, through May 15, 1985, was a gain of 123 grams U-235. This gain includes a gain of 1975 grams U-235 reported by the licensee following the November 2,1984, physical inventory which was attributed to prior periods.
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Inventory Difference Licensee Material Inventory (Grass of Licensee No. SNM- Type Date U-235 or Pu) Explanation United Nuclear Corp., 368 HEU 1/11/85 2,853 The inventory difference exceeded the Montville, CT limit of error. This loss occurred primarily because of corrections resulting from reanalysis of data from prior reporting periods. l HEU 3/15/85 -1,521 The inventory difference exceeded the l I
limit of error. This gain resulted primarily from a reinventory of material located in the scrap storage room.
HEU 5/17/85 -627 The inventory difference exceeded the limit of error. This gain resulted l
a primarily frw four items that were inventoried i 3/15/85 for which the licensee inaavertently failed to include the uranium-235 values for the physical inventory.
Westinghouse, 1107 LEU 1/2/85 22,284 The inventory difference falls within Columbia, SC the applicable regulatory limit.
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ET'2#, BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET NUREG-0430. Vol. 6, No. 1 Sit INSTavCTich8 06. tpet envinst a fiTLE eLNO SUETITLE JLeang %n Licensed Fuel Facility Status Report Inventory Difference Data I
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U.S. Nuclear Regulat Commission Washington, D.C. 205
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January 1,1985-June 30,1985
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