# Presentation: 502764

## Slide 1

## Use of Acoustic Wave Analysis in Safeguards Applications

***Michael Goldfarb***
***Marius Stein***
***Canberra Albuquerque, Inc.***

**International Safeguards Workshop**
***Advanced Sensors for Safeguards***
**Santa Fe, New Mexico USA**
**23 April - 27 April 2007**
**sponsored by The U. S. Support Program**
**On behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency**

## Canberra Albuquerque, Inc.

**Member of the AREVA family  **
**AREVA**
**World leader in nuclear power**
**$9 billion company**
**50,000 employees in more than 30 countries**

## Containment Verification in Safeguards

**Containment verification (CV) measures**
**Secure materials or equipment against tampering**
**Indicate any attempt to tamper with a containment**
**Do not provide physical protection**
**Areas under containment **
**instrument cabinets**
**nuclear material storage containers**
**conduits**
**Maintaining containment integrity as important to safeguards as seals**
**No quantitative verification methods are currently in use**
**Methods to verify the integrity of a containment must be developed**

## Current CV Methods

**On-site**
**Carried out by inspectors**
**Main methods are qualitative**
**Sensory basis**
**Visual check for changes or relocation**
**Olfactory – chemical smells can indicate cleaning or repainting**
**Touch (feeling surface for changes)**
**Auditory (listening for rumors and information from operators)**

## Role of Inspectors in Containment Verification

**Inspectors must be trained to extract as much containment information from on-site operators as possible**
**Enhanced observational skills training provided by inspection authority**
**No way to reconfirm activities undertaken on site**
**Mutual trust between operators and inspectors is necessary**

## Acoustic Wave Analysis: Introduction

**Technology driven primarily from military submarine applications**
**Method**
**Acoustic source establishes an energy distribution within an enclosure**
**Any opening or entry into the volume disturbs this distribution and is marked as an intrusion**
**Appropriate for use in Containment Verification**
**Ideal for situations with very specific signals of interest or areas with very low background noise**
**For a machine operating at a stabilized speed, spectrum can be averaged to find machine’s normal rotation speed****	**

## Advantages

**Advantages**
**Video surveillance does not directly monitor parameters (i.e., equipment status)**
**Not limited by line-of-sight**
**Some events are detectable only through audio signals **
**“****Noise” can draw inspector’s attention, allow quicker and more accurate post analysis**
**Acoustic sensors can significantly enhance system performance**
**Passive, non-intrusive**

## Acoustic Wave Analysis in Industrial Processes

**Aids in preventive maintenance to detect wear of main mechanical parts helps to plan actions before a fault occurs **
**Acoustic wave analysis system already used in industry – proven and mature technology**
**Access to the system can be performed remotely through a web link.**

- Wave Analysis System at Industrial Site

## Obstacles

**Major obstacle: Differentiating between multiple audio sources present in acoustic signal**
**Sources of interest**
**False alarms**
**Background noise**
**Sound generation is associated with the movement of parts in a wide frequency range (10Hz to several KHz, due to damping and frequency reflections) **
**Specific processing methods designed to reject background noise**
**Method: Extract key parameters that allow for verification from the signature**
**Meeting industry acoustic comfort concerns**
**System developed to meet concern**

## Differentiation

**Door Closing**

**Metal Shock**

## Extracting Key Parameters from Signature

**Two main methods**
**Statistical approach based on a library of recorded reference signals that are used to extract as many parameters as possible**
**A physical model of the sound generation that allows the determination of the signal main characteristics. **
**Both method extract “n” parameters from measured goal**

## Extracting Key Parameters from Signature

**Third method: concentrate on a specific device**
**Signature can be recorded on-site**
**Signature of equipment while running serves as a reference model**
**Signal variation indicates mechanical modifications**

- Sound sources marked within camera image

## Conclusions

**Acoustic wave analysis systems used widely throughout industry**
**Well-suited to control known installations where reference noise and vibrations can be recorded as a “learning process”**
**Possible applications range from triggering to tamper protection and preventative maintenance **
**Next step**
**Define a typical safeguards scenario**
**Perform testing on real data**