Implementation of tank volume measurement equipment at the Mayak Production Association Page: 1 of 4
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BNL-64250
CatF971a 3l r - 5
IMPLEMENTATION OF TANK VOLUME MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT
AT THE MAYAK PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION*
Oleg Darenskikh EE
Mayak Production Association, Ozersk, Russia RE i .
14AY 2 0 1997
Sylvester C. Suda, John U. Valente, Peter B. Zuhoski
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA O &T I
One goal of the program to improve nuclear material protection, control, and accounting
(MPC&A) in Russian facilities is to computerize material accounting techniques for bulk materials.
Such materials include liquid solutions at radiochemical plants: dissolver, intermediate product, and
waste. Material accounting techniques for tank volume measurements (TVM's) are needed to
determine the nuclear material content of these solutions (chemical and isotopic analysis are also
required). The content is required to close the material balance in a radiochemical plant
Computerization of these techniques can provide unattended measurements of material flows,
improved precision and accuracy, reduced operator effort, and lower radiation exposure of
operators--with equipment that is predominantly remote from high radiation areas. This paper
describes the technical activities that contributed to the successful integration of the BNL-developed
TVM system into the Mayak facility conducted under the US-Russian Cooperative MPC&A
Program.
Computerized tank volume measurement equipment was developed by Brookhaven National
Laboratory (BNL) and first used under operating conditions in the Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) in
Japan In 1979. The pressure gage in the TRP bubbler-probe system was the Ruska
Electromanometer (Ref. 1, 2). Since then, the Brookhaven TVM has undergone two upgrades.
Version II is a portable system that was designed for use by domestic and international inspectors
(Ref. 3, 4). Pressure measurements in this system are made using the Paroscientific Digiquartz
pressure transmitter.
The bubbler-probe TVM system installed in the Mayak Production Association (PA)
radiochemical plant in April 1997 represents Version 111. It also uses the Paroscientific Digiquartz
Pressure Transmitter, but is different in two ways from the previous version. One is the use of
computer-controlled air mass flow meters (in lieu of rotameters), and the other is the Russian
language screen displays using Labview software.
The task of installing, testing, and evaluating the computerized tank volume measurement
system at Mayak required both a working knowledge of the tank structure, its location, its current
instrumentation and operating procedures, and hands-on familiarity by the plant operating staff with
the measurement equipment and software. This was accomplished in two steps.
The first step involved visits to the Mayak radiochemical plant by BNL staff, at which time tank-
specific installation requirements for the bubbler-probe TVM system were determined. The
requirements include specifications for the instrument air, pneumatic and electrical power lines to
the measurement module, and communication lines to the location of the computer, for example
the control room. Mayak staff provided a description of the current means for tank volume
* This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy
under Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH00016.
MI ASTER
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Darenskikh, O.; Suda, S.C.; Valente, J.U. & Zuhoski, P.B. Implementation of tank volume measurement equipment at the Mayak Production Association, article, May 1, 1997; Upton, New York. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc690311/m1/1/: accessed March 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.