As part of the US-Russian Lab-to-Lab program for strengthening nuclear material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A), a testbed facility has been established in a laboratory of the VNIIEF to demonstrate safeguards technology to nuclear facility operators. The design of the testbed MPC&A system provides the functions of nondestructive measurements for plutonium and highly enriched uranium, item control, personnel access control, radiation portal monitoring, search equipment, and computerized on-line accounting. The system controls, monitors, and accounts for nuclear material and people as the material moves through three MBAs. It also assists with physical inventory taking. A total of 39 instruments and control systems are being demonstrated in the present version of the testbed. Of these, about half are of Russian design and fabrication, including the software for the item monitoring and the accounting systems. These two computer systems are on an ethernet network and connected in a client-server local area architecture. The item monitoring system is integrated with the accounting system, providing alarm and status information to a central dispatcher terminal. The operation of the MPC&A testbed has been demonstrated under routine and alarm conditions in collaboration with safeguards staff from the six participating US national labs. Workshops and training for …

This research effort is a part of the Light-Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, which is a research and development (R&D) program sponsored by Department of Energy (DOE), performed in close collaboration with industry R&D programs, to provide the technical foundations for licensing and managing the long-term, safe, and economical operation of current nuclear power plants. The LWRS program serves to help the U.S. nuclear industry adopt new technologies and engineering solutions that facilitate the continued safe operation of the plants and extension of the current operating licenses. The introduction of advanced technology in existing nuclear power plants may help to manage the effects of aging systems, structures, and components. In addition, the incorporation of advanced technology in the existing LWR fleet may entice the future workforce, who will be familiar with advanced technology, to work for these utilities rather than more newly built nuclear power plants. Advantages are being sought by developing and deploying technologies that will increase safety and efficiency. One significant opportunity for existing plants to increase efficiency is to phase out the paper-based procedures (PBPs) currently used at most nuclear power plants and replace them, where feasible, with computer-based procedures (CBPs). PBPs have ensured safe operation of …