The use of artificial intelligence for safeguarding fuel reprocessing plants

Abstract

Recorded process data from the ''Minirun'' campaigns conducted at the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant (BNFP) in Barnwell, South Carolina during 1980 to 1981 have been utilized to study the suitability of computer-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods for process monitoring for safeguards purposes. The techniques of knowledge engineering were used to formulate the decision-making software which operates on the process data customarily used for process operations. The OPS5 AI language was used to construct an Expert System for this purpose. Such systems are able to form reasoned conclusions from incomplete, inaccurate or otherwise ''fuzzy'' data, and to explain the reasoning that led to them. The programs were tested using minirun data taken during simulated diversions ranging in size from 1 to 20 L of solution that had been monitored previously using conventional procedural techniques. 13 refs., 3 figs