Criticality Accident Alarm System Removal Methodologies

摘要

The Gaseous Diffusion Plants (GDPs) at Portsmouth, OH and Paducah, KY are owned and regulated by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management. The Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) manages the DOE cleanup efforts at the two GDP sites. The mission of the PPPO is to conduct safe, secure, compliant, and cost effective environmental legacy cleanup of the Portsmouth and Paducah uranium enrichment sites on behalf of the local communities and the American taxpayer. The purpose of this paper is to provide methodologies for removing from service a Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) at the GDPs. The presence of a CAAS implies a nontrivial risk of an inadvertent nuclear criticality. The uranium enrichment mission has ended and the facilities are now being deactivated. Once the fissile material has been removed as much as possible in a facility via deactivation and decontamination and any residual fissile material that remains is documented to not pose a criticality hazard, the CAAS may be removed from service.