Maintenance of records

As mentioned in Section 1, the concept of hierarchical record management is a key factor for long term management of data over different phases, like disposal of spent fuel.

Depending on the legal regulations in Member States, the responsibility for collecting, inputting and outputting, changing and storing data of the records in the spent fuel database could be imposed on nuclear facility operator, regulatory or governmental organisations.

The organization, which is responsible for records maintenance, should provide the reliable information storage by means of:

• The fulfilment of procedures for information handling.

The elaborated procedures, which provide the completeness and correctness of stored data, should be revised periodically. Furthermore completeness and correctness of data should be controlled by means of software.

• The availability of skilled staffs.

After changing procedures or software, the staffs have to be trained.

• Creation of an archive database.

The archive of spent fuel database should be kept in a different place away from the location of the main spent fuel database. The archive should be updated with established periodicity, which depends on the records change frequency of spent fuel database.

Regulatory or governmental institutions establish the information keeping term as well as the data list. Any changes in the keeping terms, data list or procedures instructions should be approved by authorities.

Responsibility for the records maintenance can not be shifted from one side to another one without authorization given by regulatory body or governmental institutions.

4.4.1. Records maintenance responsibility transfer

Spent fuel information may also have to be considered in the context of nuclear knowledge preservation. In addition to current inventories, historical and projected data is important for some purposes such as consistency analysis.

The records maintenance responsibility may be shifted in the following cases:

• Shift of responsibility for spent fuel management,

• Spent fuel shipment between nuclear facility sites,

• Reorganization or ownership transfer.

The information/database transfer should be performed according to established procedures, which prevent the data loss. These transfer procedures should be appproved by regulatory or governmental institutions. Before transfer responsibility for data keeping, the following main issues should be agreed:

• Content of transmitted information,

• Information format and information-carrying medium,

• Responsibility for collecting information concerning of the spent fuel shipment conditions.

If the content of transmitted data is more than that stored in the spent fuel database, the redundant information issue must be resolved. The redundant information can be archived or removed. Any information can not be eliminated without authorization given by regulatory or governmental institution.

4.4.2. Elimination of unnecessary data

The spent fuel records should be maintained until the authority considers that the records are no longer required. Mostly the spent fuel data can become unnecessary when fuel is reprocessed, re-fabricated or conditioned for disposal. In order to prevent the premature or mistaken spent fuel data removal, the elimination procedures should be established and be proved by regulatory or governmental institutions.

In order to reduce the risk of deleting information by mistake, a redundant set of records may have to be archived for a required period before deleting data permanenetly.

4.4.3. Inspection of spent fuel database

Representatives of regulatory or governmental institutions should periodically inspect the spent fuel database system for the following issues:

• Availability of documentation, which should meet the regulatory/governmental institutions requirements,

• Effectiveness and observance of the established procedures,

• Guarding information reliability,

• Staff training level.

The organization responsible for spent fuel database records maintenance must take appropriate measures for full compliance with regulatory or national or international requirements.

4.4.4. Maintenance of spent fuel database

Maintenance of the spent fuel database, including equipments maintenance, should be provided during all period of spent fuel database utilization.

Taking into account the extended period of spent fuel database utilization, the spent fuel database will need to be upgraded or modified because of operator complaints or due to changes in regulatory requirements. After any modification or upgrade of the spent fuel database, the procedure adequacy should be analyzed and appropriate changes be made, as necessary.

For data backtracking purposes it is highly recommended to store all data sources, in both electronic and hardcopy versions if possible. The responsibility for maintenance of this data archive has to be clearly identified and a list of all changes of data, codes and versions has to be available to all spent fuel database users on a regular basis. The same is true also for the technical support on a day-to-day-basis.

4.4.5. Cessation of data tracking (termination of record keeping on reprocessing or refabrication)

As mentioned above spent fuel management policy could be pursued with different paths: to dispose of as waste, reprocess or re-fabricate. If the spent fuel management policy shifts from one to another, the spent fuel database system would also have to be transferred accordingly and divided into some groups with the contextual information framework.

Cessation of data tracking determines the duration of the life cycle of the spent fuel database.

It is related to the next step of nuclear fuel cycle, where the spent fuel assemblycould either be reprocessed, thus loosing all uniquely identifiable properties, or is declared as radioactive waste for disposal in which case selected data are included into the radioactive waste database. In the latter case spent fuel data tracking continues after its disposal.

4.4.5.1. Cessation at reprocessing/refabrication

Cessation of spent fuel tracking may occur at the head end of a reprocessing line, or when the fuel assembly is refabricated and assigned a separate and unique identification number (see 2.2.4). In any of these cases, the reason and date for the cessation of tracking should be recorded.

4.4.5.2. Cessation at disposal

The requirement to continue tracking spent fuel assemblies and their characteristics after they are placed into waste disposal containers may be necessary for safety or safeguards purposes. This is especially important since repository design may encompass a period of potential spent fuel retrieval and/or for either transport to further storage or to another back end facility