Special Nuclear Material of Moderate Strategic Significance

10 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart D
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

10 C.F.R. § 74.41 Nuclear material control and accounting for special nuclear material of moderate strategic significance.

(a) General performance objectives. Each licensee who is authorized to possess special nuclear material (SNM) of moderate strategic significance or SNM in a quantity exceeding one effective kilogram of strategic special nuclear material in irradiated fuel reprocessing operations other than as sealed sources and to use this material at any site other than a nuclear reactor licensed pursuant to part 50 of this chapter; or as reactor irradiated fuels involved in research, development, and evaluation programs in facilities other than irradiated fuel reprocessing plants; or an operation involved with waste disposal, shall establish, implement, and maintain a Commission-approved material control and accounting (MC&A) system that will achieve the following performance objectives: (1) Maintain accurate, current, and reliable information on, and confirm, the quantities and locations of SNM in the licensee's possession; (2) Conduct investigations and resolve any anomalies indicating a possible loss of special nuclear material; (3) Permit rapid determination of whether an actual loss of a significant quantity of SNM has occurred, with significant quantity being either: (i) More than one formula kilogram of strategic SNM; or (ii) 10,000 grams or more of uranium-235 contained in uranium enriched up to 20.00 percent. (4) Generate information to aid in the investigation and recovery of missing SNM in the event of an actual loss. (b) Implementation schedule. Each applicant for a license, and each licensee that, upon application for modification of its license, would become newly subject to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section shall: (1) Submit a fundamental nuclear material control (FNMC) plan describing how the performance objectives of § 74.41(a) will be achieved, and how the system capabilities required by § 74.41(c) will be met; and (2) Implement the NRC-approved FNMC plan submitted pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section upon the Commission's issuance or modification of a license or by the date specified in a license condition. (c) System capabilities. To achieve the performance objectives specified in § 74.41(a), the MC&A system must include the capabilities described in §§ 74.43 and 74.45, and must incorporate checks and balances that are sufficient to detect falsification of data and reports that could conceal diversion of SNM by: (1) A single individual, including an employee in any position; or (2) Collusion between two individuals, one or both of whom have authorized access to SNM.

10 C.F.R. § 74.43 Internal controls, inventory, and records.

(a) General. Licensees subject to § 74.41 shall maintain the internal control, inventory, and recordkeeping capabilities required in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section. (b) Internal controls. (1) A management structure shall be established, documented, and maintained that assures: (i) Clear overall responsibility for material control and accounting (MC&A) functions; (ii) Independence from production and manufacturing responsibilities; and (iii) Separation of key responsibilities. (2) The overall planning, coordination, and administration of the MC&A functions for special nuclear material (SNM) shall be vested in a single individual at an organizational level sufficient to assure independence of action and objectiveness of decisions. (3) The licensee shall provide for the adequate review, approval, and use of written MC&A procedures that are identified in the approved FNMC plan as being critical to the effectiveness of the described system. (4) The licensee shall assure that personnel who work in key positions where mistakes could degrade the effectiveness of the MC&A system are trained to maintain a high level of safeguards awareness and are qualified to perform their duties and/or responsibilities. (5) The licensee shall establish, document, and maintain an item control program that: (i) Provides current knowledge of SNM items with respect to identity, element and isotope content, and stored location; and (ii) Assures that SNM items are stored and handled, or subsequently measured, in a manner such that unauthorized removal of 200 grams or more of plutonium or uranium-233 or 300 grams or more of uranium-235, as one or more whole items and/or as SNM removed from containers, will be detected. (6) Exempted from the requirements of paragraph (b)(5) of this section are items that exist for less than 14 calendar days and licensee-identified items each containing less than 200 grams of plutonium or uranium-233 or 300 grams or more of uranium-235 up to a cumulative total of one formula kilogram of strategic SNM or 17 kilograms of uranium-235 contained in uranium enriched to 10.00 percent or more but less than 20.00 percent in the uranium-235 isotope. (7) Conduct and document shipper-receiver comparisons for all SNM receipts, both on an individual batch basis and a total shipment basis, and ensure that any shipper-receiver difference that is statistically significant and exceeds twice the estimated standard deviation of the difference estimator and 200 grams of plutonium or uranium-233 or 300 grams of uranium-235 is investigated and resolved; and (8) Perform independent assessments of the total MC&A system, at intervals not to exceed 18 months, that assess the performance of the system, review its effectiveness, and document management's action on prior assessment recommendations and identified deficiencies. These assessments must include a review and evaluation of any contractor who performs SNM accountability measurements for the licensee. (c) Inventory control and physical inventories. The licensee shall: (1) Provide unique identification for each item on inventory and maintain inventory records showing the identity, location, and quantity of SNM for these items; (2) Document all transfers of SNM between designated internal control areas within the licensee's site; (3) Maintain and follow procedures for tamper-safing of containers or vaults containing SNM, if tamper-safe seals are to be used for assuring the validity of prior measurements, which include control of access to, and distribution of, unused seals and to records showing the date and time of seal application; (4) Maintain and follow procedures for confirming the validity of prior measurements associated with unencapsulated and unsealed items on ending inventory; (5) Maintain and follow physical inventory procedures to assure that: (i) The quantity of SNM associated with each item on ending inventory is a measured value; (ii) Each item on ending inventory is listed and identified to assure that all items are listed and no item is listed more than once; (iii) Cutoff procedures for transfers and processing are established so that all quantities are inventoried and none are inventoried more than once; (iv) Cutoff procedures for records and reports are established so that only transfers for the inventory and material balance interval are included in the records for the material balance period in question; (v) Upon completion of the physical inventory, all book and inventory records, for total plant and individual internal control areas, are reconciled with and adjusted to the results of the physical inventory; and (vi) Measurements will be performed for element and isotope content on all quantities of SNM not previously measured. (6) Conduct physical inventories according to written instructions for each physical inventory which: (i) Assign inventory duties and responsibilities; (ii) Specify the extent to which each internal control area and process is to be shut down, cleaned out, and/or remain static; (iii) Identify the basis for accepting previously made measurements and their limits of error; and (iv) Designate measurements to be made for physical inventory purposes and the procedures for making these measurements. (7) Conduct physical inventories of all possessed SNM for each plant at intervals not to exceed 9 calendar months; and (8) Within 60 calendar days after the start of each physical inventory required by paragraph (c)(7) of this section: (i) Calculate, for the material balance period terminated by the physical inventory, the inventory difference (ID) and its associated standard error of inventory difference (SEID) for both element and isotope; (ii) Reconcile and adjust the book record of quantity of element and isotope content, as appropriate, to the results of the physical inventory; and (iii) Investigate and report to the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, any occurrence of SEID exceeding 0.125 percent of active inventory, and any occurrence of ID exceeding both three times SEID and 200 grams of plutonium or uranium-233 or 300 grams of uranium-235 contained in high enriched uranium, or 9000 grams of uranium-235 contained in low enriched uranium. The report shall include a statement of the probable reasons for the excessive inventory difference and the corrective actions taken or planned. (d) Recordkeeping. The licensee shall: (1) Maintain records of the receipt, shipment, disposal, and current inventory associated with all possessed SNM; (2) Maintain records of the quantities of SNM added to and removed from process; (3) Maintain records of all shipper-receiver evaluations associated with SNM receipts; (4) Retain each record pertaining to receipt and disposal of SNM until the Commission terminates the license; and (5) Establish records that will demonstrate that the performance objectives of § 74.41(a)(1) through (4), the system capabilities of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section and § 74.45(b) and (c) have been met, and maintain these records in an auditable form, available for inspection, for at least 3 years, unless a longer retention time is specified by § 74.19(b), part 75 of this chapter, or by a specific license condition.

10 C.F.R. § 74.45 Measurements and measurement control.

(a) General. Licensees subject to § 74.41 of this part shall establish and maintain the measurement and measurement control capabilities required by paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. (b) Measurements. The licensee shall: (1) Establish, maintain, and use a program for the measurement of all SNM received, produced, transferred between internal control areas, on inventory, or shipped, discarded, or otherwise removed from inventory, except for: (i) Sealed sources that have been determined by other means to contain less than 10 grams of uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium each; (ii) Samples received, transferred between internal control areas, or on inventory that have been determined by other means to contain less than 10 grams of uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium each; (iii) Receipt of sealed sources, of any quantity, previously manufactured and shipped by the licensee and which are returned to the licensee, provided the unique identity and encapsulation integrity have not been compromised, and the booked receipt quantity equals the previously shipped quantity for the involved sealed sources; and (iv) Heterogeneous scrap that cannot be accurately measured in its as received form, provided this scrap is measured after dissolution within 18 months of receipt. The after dissolution measurement must include measurement of both the resulting solution and any undissolved residues, before any co-mingling with other scrap solutions or residues. (2) Maintain and follow a program for the development and use of written procedures that includes documented review and approval of these procedures, and any revisions thereof, before use, for: (i) Preparing or acquiring, maintaining, storing, and using reference standards; (ii) Calibrating measurement systems, performing bulk mass and volume measurements, conducting nondestructive assay measurements, obtaining samples, and performing laboratory analyses for element concentration and isotope abundance; and (iii) Recording, reviewing, and reporting measurements. (c) Measurement control. To maintain measurement quality and to estimate measurement uncertainty values, the licensee shall: (1) Assign responsibility for planning, developing, coordinating, and administering a measurement control program to an individual who has no direct responsibility for performing measurements or for SNM processing or handling, and who holds a position at an organizational level which permits independence of action and has adequate authority to obtain all the information required to monitor and evaluate measurement quality as required by this section. (2) Ensure that any contractor who performs MC&A measurements services conforms with applicable requirements in paragraphs (c)(5), (6), (7), (10) and (11) of this section. Conformance must include reporting by the contractor of sufficient measurement control data to allow the licensee to calculate bias corrections and measurement limits of error. (3) Ensure that potential sources of sampling error are identified and that samples are representative by performing process sampling tests using well characterized materials to establish or verify the applicability of utilized procedures for sampling SNM and for maintaining sample integrity during transport and storage. These sampling tests or sample integrity tests, as appropriate, shall be conducted whenever: (i) A new sampling procedure or technique is used, or new sampling equipment is installed; (ii) A sampling procedure, technique, or sampling equipment is modified to the extent that a systematic sampling error could be introduced; and (iii) Sample containers, sample transport methods, or sample storage conditions are changed or modified to the extent that a systematic sampling error could be introduced. (4) Establish and maintain a measurement control program so that for each inventory period the SEID is less than 0.125 percent of the active inventory, and assure that any MC&A measurements performed under contract are controlled so that the licensee can satisfy this requirement. (5) Generate current data on the performance of each measurement system used during each material balance period for the establishment of measured values and estimated measurement uncertainties, including estimates of bias, variance components for calibration, sampling, and repeat measurements. The program data must reflect the current process and measurement conditions existing at the time the control measurements are made. (6) Use standards on an ongoing basis for the calibration and control of all measurement systems used for SNM accountability. Calibrations shall be repeated whenever any significant change occurs in a measurement system or when program data indicate a need for recalibration. Calibrations and control standard measurements shall be based on standards whose assigned values are traceable to certified reference standards or certified standard reference materials. Additionally, control standards shall be representative of the process material or items being measured by the measurement system in question. (7) Conduct control measurements to provide current data for the determination of random error behavior. On a predetermined schedule, the program shall include, as appropriate: (i) Replicate analyses of individual samples; (ii) Analysis of replicate process samples; (iii) Replicate volume measurements of bulk process batches; (iv) Replicate weight measurements of process items and bulk batches, or alternatively, the use of data generated from the replicate weighings of control standard weights as derived from the control standard program; and (v) Replicate NDA measurements of individual process containers (items), or alternatively, the use of data generated from the replicate measurements of NDA control standards as derived from the control standard program. (8) Use all measurements and measurement controls generated during the current material balance period for the estimation of the SEID. (9) Evaluate with appropriate statistical methods all measurement system data generated in paragraph (c)(5) of this section to determine significant contributors to the measurement uncertainties associated with inventory differences and shipper-receiver differences, so that if SEID exceeds the limits established in paragraph (c)(4) of this section, the cause of the excessive SEID can be identified for corrective action with respect to controlling the standard error within applicable limits. (10) Establish and maintain a statistical control system, including control charts and formal statistical procedures, designed to monitor the quality of each measurement device or system. Control chart limits must be established to be equivalent to levels of significance of 0.05 and 0.001. (11) Promptly investigate and take any appropriate corrective action whenever a control datum exceeds an 0.05 control limit, and whenever a control datum exceeds an 0.001 control limit, the measurement system that generated the datum shall immediately be placed out-of-service with respect to MC&A measurements until the deficiency has been corrected and the system brought into control within the 0.05 control limits.

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