Updates to Risk Ranking Algorithm for Repackaging Prioritization of LANL Nuclear Material Storage Containers

Abstract

Background When the Department of Energy ended the production of nuclear weapons in 1989 the focus of the weapons complex shifted from production to stabilization and remediation. At that time thousands of containers of plutonium-bearing liquids and solids that had been in the manufacturing pipeline needed to be processed and packaged for longer term safe storage. In 1994 and 2000, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) issued recommendations 94-1 and 00-1, respectively to accelerate and prioritize the stabilization and disposition of these materials.