Blend Down Monitoring System Fissile Mass Flow Monitor Implementation at the ElectroChemical Plant, Zelenogorsk, Russia

Abstract

The implementation plans and preparations for installation of the Fissile Mass Flow Monitor (FMFM) equipment at the ElectroChemical Plant (ECP), Zelenogorsk, Russia, are presented in this report. The FMFM, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is part of the Blend Down Monitoring System (BDMS), developed for the U.S. Department of Energy Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Transparency Implementation Program. The BDMS provides confidence to the United States that the Russian nuclear facilities supplying the lower-assay ({approx}4%) product low enriched uranium (P-LEU) to the United States from down-blended weapons-grade HEU are meeting the nonproliferation goals of the government-to-government HEU Purchase Agreement, signed between the Russian Federation and the United States in 1993. The first BDMS has been operational at Ural Electrochemical Integrated Plant, Novouralsk, since February 1999 and is successfully providing HEU transparency data to the United States. The second BDMS was installed at ECP in February 2003. The FMFM makes use of a set of thermalized californium-252 ({sup 252}Cf) spontaneous neutron sources for a modulated fission activation of the UF{sub 6} gas stream for measuring the {sup 235}U fissile mass flow rate. To do this, the FMFM measures the transport time of the fission fragments created from the fission activation processmore » under the modulated source to the downstream detectors by detecting the delayed gamma rays from the fission fragments. The FMFM provides unattended, nonintrusive measurements of the {sup 235}U mass flow in the HEU, LEU blend stock, and P-LEU process legs. The FMFM also provides the traceability of the HEU flow to the product process leg. This report documents the technical installation requirements and the expected operational characteristics of the ECP FMFM.« less