DISCRETE-EVENT SIMULATION PROCESS MODEL FOR THE PYROCHEMICAL PROCESSING OF PLUTONIUM AT LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY

The pyrochemical metal production operations that occur in the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory perform plutonium purification with the aim to provide plutonium metal for a variety of defense- and non-defense missions within the National Nuclear Security Administration. The demands and constraints associated with the pyrochemical processing of plutonium are complex, making decision analyses challenging for program managers who require plutonium production for their mission applications. A full description is provided of the development of a discrete-event simulation process model, constructed in the ExtendSim™ [trademark] software, to measure and report the process capacity, material throughput, equipment requirements, and dose accumulation of the pyrochemical metal production operations. The process model represents the cause-and-effect relationships between the pyrochemical processing environment and the process constraints, including criticality limitations, material control and accountability measures, chemical analysis requirements, labor resources, and equipment availability. The results for three separate analyses in which the process model was utilized are presented and discussed. Possible future applications include the integration of the pyrochemical metal production process model with an aqueous recovery process model to simulate the potential for transuranic waste disposal minimization.