It's TRUly HyTime
to Stop Wasting Data

By Cecelia J. Lemons, Kiona Scientific, and Kurt Conrad, The Sagebrush Group

In June, 1993, Canberra Industries delivered a prototype neutron-gamma waste assay system, which was built to PNL specifications. The system used state-of-the-art hardware for a combined passive neutron and gamma assay of 55-gallon drummed waste.

The supporting analysis software was expected to provide simultaneous analyses with limited integration capabilities as a starting point for continued development. The original software package did not meet these expectations and PNL and Canberra worked together to successfully develop a baseline analysis package for this system.

Since supporting the software re-development effort, I have become convinced that tremendous opportunity exists to integrate NDA/NDE data and systems suites through the use of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and its HyTime extensions.

This presentation will highlight the ways that these two information management standards can be applied to NDA/NDE information lifecycles in the areas of:

• Waste acceptance criteria
• Waste management (storage and processing)
• Online procedures and technical manuals
• Configuration control, including information pedigree requirements
• Real-time regulatory compliance
• Integration with upstream and downstream data management processes
• Real-time management oversight of large-scale waste processes

The primary challenges to this industry isn't hardware evolution, but software development, which includes methods integration, data fusion, and solid regulatory compliance.