NUCMAT is special purpose software that allows introducing and maintaining an accurate inventories/database of nuclear materials. NUCMAT can be installed both at state level and at facility level and can be used by regulatory bodies, operators and facilities. The State Level NUCMAT serves as a central command node that collects all relevant information from field nodes (facilities and LOFs) via secure connection or by encrypted e-mail. The number of field nodes is unlimited. NUCMAT was developed to meet all IAEA relevant requirements based on the following legal hierarchy:
Main capabilities and features of NUCMAT includes:
- Implementation and recording all relevant inventory changes prescribed by IAEA;
- Providing relevant information to user àRegulatory Body àIAEA with a recoverable history reflecting amount, properties and disposition of nuclear materials;
- Calculation and update of inventory of nuclear materials:
- Source Material Accounting;
- Special fissionable materials accounting;
- Calculation/closure of material balance of nuclear materials;
- Generation of all required reports (PIL, ICR, MBR) both in the paper format and in the MS Excel format compatible for further QA check by IAEA suggested code QCVS. Generated reports meet all specifications and requirements set by “Code 10 of General Part of Subsidiary Arrangements to the Agreement between Country and IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty of the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”;
- Generation of auxiliary reports like LII, free content reports for exploring available information to facilitate internal, Regulatory Body and IAEA inspections as well as for providing input information for other activities related with nuclear materials. For example, provide information to support nuclear fuel management, reloading activities in NPPs, etc.
- Automatic generation and maintenance of General Ledger.
NUCMAT was designed to assure high-level security concerning information stored in the database and actions carried out within systems (secure code, activity logs, users with different rights, etc.). Special attention is paid on QA and QC via:
- Validation of entry information;
- Archiving;
- Backup of NM database;
- Restore NM database;
- Management of user rights.
Other useful features of NUCMAT are:
- Variable input format (data could be entered manually or could be uploaded from external files with different formats convenient for users);
- Support of national languages – Interface could be in any language supported by Windows operation system;
- Unlimited data entry terminals (web based technology allows to have access remotely to NUCMAT in work simultaneously);
The database as a part of NUCMAT is designed using Microsoft SQL Express technology. NUCMAT is developed using state of the art programming tools included in Microsoft Visual Studio software development package. This approach allows to have convenient and user friendly interface, easily introduce new features, implement distributed or centralized database configuration in a country. Following modifications of the current version of NUCMAT are planned:
- Implementation of the label format for reporting;
- Extension of NUCMAT for nuclear fuel cycle facilities.
The existing version of NUCMAT satisfies the needs of countries with LOFs, research reactors and may be used for power reactors.
Currently conversion and enrichment facilities are out of scope of NUCMAT. However, the development team is working to enhance NUCMAT capabilities and add more features.