NMMSS Training
(Posted on Monday, May 20, 2019)
The annual Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS) training is held every year to provide a unique forum to learn and share information and experiences related to tracking of nuclear material in the United States. This year NMMSS training was held in Las Vegas, Nevada in May. The week-long arrangement of sessions covers a wide range of important topics that affect domestic and international control, accounting and reporting of nuclear materials. Jointly planned and organized by the Department of Energy(DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration(NNSA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC), the course covers many topics:
- NRC licensees and DOE facilities nuclear material reporting issues
- Regulatory update and impacts on DOE contractors and NRC licensees
- Nuclear material reporting, lessons learned, and best practices
- Industry roundtable discussions: Materials Control & Accountability, Obligations, Fuel Cycle Facilities
- Import and export of nuclear material
- Basic and advanced nuclear material accountancy training
- Distinguished keynote, invited speakers, and recognized subject matter experts
David Hanks provided a talk on Safeguards Considerations for Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities—Reactors. His talk provided an extensive overview of what might be expected of an engineer in developing small modular reactors to meet an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards approach.
Activities of NMMSS directly influence the nuclear and national security of the United States. Its products and services are used by a diverse cross-section of stakeholders to support policy, programmatic, and mission decisions.
Entities within both the Executive and the Legislative branches of the U.S. government, the NRC, NNSA organizations, IAEA, and other governments, routinely receive and use NMMSS data. The timeliness and credibility of resultant insights and takeaways is crucial. NMMSS is used for tracking of imports and exports of nuclear materials to support the U.S. role in advancing the global peaceful use of nuclear energy, international transfers of nuclear materials, and transatlantic and transpacific commerce.
Important routine accountancy issues are assisted by NMMSS including reconciliation of inventories for all commercial and government-owned nuclear materials. These include every aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle involving entities licensed by the NRC and nuclear operations. The accounting for and tracking of material subject to obligations facilitate U.S. trade in nuclear material and equipment with foreign countries consistent with Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation.
More information on the 2019 NMMSS Users Training Meeting can be found on the NNSA website:
https://nmmss2019.linksolutions.com
David H. Hanks
Among the award winners of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize given to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), David H. Hanks held an International Nuclear Safeguards Inspector post at the IAEA in Vienna, Austria, for several years. His many years of experience in international nuclear nonproliferation and expertise in the operation of nuclear power plants provides a unique insight into the world Carson Griffin inhabits. Now living in Georgia, David has published several technical documents related to nuclear safeguards and wrote The Disappearance, a novel based on his mother’s disappearance in 1972.