NUTRON - Modernizing Nuclear Material Tracking Systems

NUTRON NUTRON Modernizing Nuclear Material Tracking grp-mfcse@inl.gov Presented by Dave Foster and Matt Meng Presented by Dave Foster and Matt Meng

Introduction Matt Meng Software Engineer for 20 years Joined the INL in 2017 Technical Lead for Software Engineering at MFC Dave Foster Software Engineer for 20 years Joined the INL in 2018 User Interface and Experience Architect at MFC Intro Intro Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Nuclear Material Tracking Keeping an accurate inventory is crucial The nuclear industry is reluctant to change in software No software commercially available for nuclear material tracking Use of applications that weren t intended for nuclear material tracking Tracking systems don t meet the standards of software best- practices in 2024 NUTRON is our answer. It has been running at the INL for 6 years and is used by 24+ facilities, with on-boarding of the whole Lab continuing. Intro Intro Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Problems Security History and Auditing Error Reduction Standardization Intro Intro Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Security Problems Paper inventories are vulnerable to: Fire! Theft Water damage Coffee Excel spreadsheets have issues too: Shared drives with difficult access control No way to tell who made edits No way to revoke access once a copy is downloaded Logic and calculations are stored in the spreadsheet Intro Intro Security Security Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Data Safeguarding The data should not be collocated with the inventory External data-center stores the data and runs the application INL hosts its own internal data-centers that we use Software Engineering industry-standards for: Data redundancy and backups Server redundancy and scaling Uptime Load Balancing Intro Intro Security Security Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Data Safeguarding Benefits Removes the responsibility of housing and maintaining data and infrastructure from the facility Inventory is still available if an emergency occurs at the facility Technology is managed by professionals and professionally built systems Being a web application, it is available cross-platform and at any terminal or mobile device on the network Intro Intro Security Security Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Access Control Users have unique credentials Users are given permissions to do certain things based on pre- defined roles A user must also be assigned the role to a specific location Intro Intro Security Security Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Access Control Benefits Auditing of user actions Securing of data to authorized users Revoking access is as easy as removing a role from a user or disable their account entirely Through access control, we can enforce policies and workflows, such as requiring peer verification for inventory modifications Intro Intro Security Security Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Auditing Problems Usually only track the current state of the inventory Not always a way to track who made the change Actions performed on inventory can create relational data that is difficult to track and to audit Information can be lost or difficult to find across different systems Researcher lab books Certifications Operational notes Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing History History and and Auditing Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

History Keep record of each change made to a sample Audits are now capable of seeing the state of the facility at any moment Actions are tracked by user, allowing auditing to understand who made a change and when they introduced it All data is managed in the same database, so all metadata about a sample is available in one place Genealogy Operations Comments Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing History History and and Auditing Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Data Input Problems Human error is the number one cause of incorrect inventory Duplicate information is created across different systems Researcher lab books are used to record details, but must be transferred to the official inventory Transfers back and forth between facilities Too many forms! Management of the inventory was relegated to a handful of individuals Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Error Reduction Peer verification is required to make changes Unifying the database allows for samples to be transferred from one location to another without duplicating the effort of data entry Recording approvals and enforcing a workflow removes the need for paper forms Many more users can help to keep the inventory up-to-date Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Standards Problems Many facilities had different: Copies of the same calculations Terminology Different facilities may use different criticality calculations; transferring from one facility to another requires additional work Data that wasn t necessary at one facility could be lost on transfer The logic, workflows and calculations could be editable by a bad actor Changes to orders and standards would necessitate separate efforts from facilities to implement Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization Standardization Standardization

Standardizing Benefits All calculations and algorithms are controlled by a single change control process If changes are necessary due to updated standards, all facilities and users benefit from a single update to them All facilities share the same standard calculations, but have access to a plethora of options Calculations cannot be modified by anyone but the Software Engineers Terminology becomes unified Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization Standardization Standardization

Nuclear Material Tracking There s much more we haven t covered about NUTRON or material tracking Material tracking, especially for the DOE-regulated, is hard! The use of software engineering best-practices and standards can increase the reliability and safety of nuclear applications NUTRON is proof that new technologies and methodologies can benefit the nuclear industry For a demo of NUTRON, please contact us at grp-mfcse@inl.gov Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization

Q&A Intro Intro Security Security History and Auditing History and Auditing Error Reduction Error Reduction Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Standardization Standardization