| Pyroprocessing facilities are subject to strict regulations that restrict the standard error of inventory
difference to a limited percentage of the active inventory at the facility. If the standard error of
inventory difference exceeds the regulation limit for the designated facility category, the facility
must be shut down for extensive inventory, reducing the commercial viability of the facility. It may
be seen that as the throughput of the facility increases, the facility becomes more sensitive to
changes in factors including the beginning of life composition of the fuel and the burnup of the
fuel input into the facility. This necessitates the comparison of various reactor’s fuel types to
determine what characteristics have the greatest impact on a fuel’s ability to meet regulatory
requirements. This vein of study is a novel exploration into the sensitivity of fuels based on
defining characteristics such as burnup and beginning of life composition. This thesis is a
continuation of the Resonance Absorption Densitometry for Materials Assay Security Safeguards
project in conjunction with the development of a figure of merit based on the investigation of
facility aspects that may input regulatory compliance for the facility.
Keywords: Depletion Analysis, Pyroprocessing, Reprocessing, SEID, Sensitivity Analysis |