MCA FOR POWER REACTORS

摘要

Material control and accounting (MC&A) guidance available to power reactor operators in thern1970's identified the fuel bundle or assembly as the basic unit of accounting and control. Additionalrnguidance addressed MC&A of the sources and instruments containing special nuclear materialrn(SNM) that were used in power reactors, but no specific guidance covered units of fuel in the spentrnfuel pool that were smaller than assemblies. Pieces smaller than intact assemblies, which arerntypically associated with fuel failure, present a host of accounting and control problems. Rodsrnremoved from assemblies and stored in specially constructed containers, broken rods, and pelletsrnvacuumed from the floor of the spent fuel pool have not always received the attention necessary tornmeet the requirement (Code of Federal Regulations) to control and account for allrnSNM. Moreover,rnthe original guidance was prepared under the assumption that spent fuel was self-protecting, and thernevents of September 11, 2001, have called this basic assumption into question. This paperrnaddresses accounting for and controlling allrnSNM items in a spent fuel pool.