Analytical front-end decomposition: Sample Receipt and Radiochemical Separations

System

Radiochemistry Laboratory for a UK Nuclear Dockyard v2 ({{hex:40853859}}), in-progress. Seven of thirteen subsystems now decomposed into components with requirements and interfaces. This session addressed the two highest-priority remaining analytical subsystems: the {{entity:Sample Receipt, Registration and Preparation Facility}} (the entry point for all sample workflows) and the {{entity:Radiochemical Separations Laboratory}} (the highest-risk wet chemistry area). Both are upstream of the four instrument suites still awaiting decomposition.

Decomposition

Sample Receipt was decomposed into five components following a linear screening-first workflow: {{entity:Sample Receiving Bay}} ({{hex:4C851010}}), {{entity:Dose Rate and Contamination Screening Station}} ({{hex:54E53859}}), {{entity:Sample Registration and Chain-of-Custody System}} ({{hex:40AD7B58}}), {{entity:Sample Preparation Laboratory}} ({{hex:44851259}}), and {{entity:Sample Storage and Archive Facility}} ({{hex:4C851218}}). The architectural decision to place screening before registration ensures dose rate category is known before LIMS work order generation, preventing uncharacterised high-activity samples from reaching the preparation lab.

Radiochemical Separations Laboratory was decomposed into six components organised by analyte group rather than by technique: {{entity:Acid Digestion and Dissolution Station}} ({{hex:56851019}}), {{entity:Actinide Separation Chemistry Station}} ({{hex:54D53019}}), {{entity:Strontium and Caesium Separation Station}} ({{hex:54C53019}}), {{entity:Tritium and Carbon-14 Preparation Station}} ({{hex:54951019}}), {{entity:Separation Chemistry Fume Cupboard Array}} ({{hex:D4851058}}), and {{entity:Separations Waste Segregation Point}} ({{hex:40853859}}). The analyte-group topology minimises cross-contamination between high-alpha actinide work and low-activity fission product separations.

flowchart TB
  SRB["Sample Receiving Bay"]
  SS["Screening Station"]
  REG["Registration System"]
  PL["Preparation Laboratory"]
  SA["Storage and Archive"]
  AD["Acid Digestion"]
  ACT["Actinide Separation"]
  SrCs["Sr/Cs Separation"]
  HC["H-3/C-14 Preparation"]
  WS["Waste Segregation"]
  SRB -->|samples| SS
  SS -->|screening data| REG
  SS -->|screened samples| PL
  REG -->|work orders| PL
  PL -->|prepared aliquots| SA
  PL -->|dissolved samples| AD
  AD -->|dissolved feed| ACT
  AD -->|dissolved feed| SrCs
  ACT -->|purified fractions| AS["Alpha Spectrometry"]
  SrCs -->|Sr fractions| LSC["Liquid Scintillation"]
  HC -->|prepared samples| LSC
  ACT -->|waste| WS
  SrCs -->|waste| WS

Analysis

Lint reported 5 high-severity ontological mismatch findings (systems classified without {{trait:Physical Object}} but having physical constraints) — all from prior sessions. Four were previously acknowledged; one new finding for {{entity:Continuous Air Monitor Network}} was acknowledged this session as ontologically correct for a distributed monitoring network. The {{entity:Actinide Separation Chemistry Station}} shares its hex prefix 54D5 with {{entity:Chemical Treatment Plant}} ({{hex:54D53259}}), reflecting their shared nature as liquid-phase radiochemical processing systems — both involve precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction, and radioactive waste generation, confirming consistent classification.

Requirements

Twenty-seven artefacts created this session: 12 subsystem requirements ({{sub:SUB-REQ-053}} through {{sub:SUB-REQ-064}}), 6 interface requirements ({{ifc:IFC-REQ-030}} through {{ifc:IFC-REQ-035}}), 7 verification entries (VER-REQ-033 through VER-REQ-039), and 2 architecture decisions ({{stk:ARC-REQ-009}}, {{stk:ARC-REQ-010}}). All requirements include rationale and verification method. Key trace chains: {{sys:SYS-REQ-005}} derives {{sub:SUB-REQ-055}} (audit trail to chain-of-custody), {{sys:SYS-REQ-009}} derives {{sub:SUB-REQ-058}} (criticality limits to storage geometry), {{sys:SYS-REQ-004}} derives {{sub:SUB-REQ-061}} (alpha detection limits drive actinide recovery). All interface requirements have corresponding verification entries with trace links.

Next

Six subsystems remain: Gamma Spectrometry Suite, Alpha Spectrometry Laboratory, Liquid Scintillation Counting Facility, ICP-MS and Elemental Analysis Suite, LIMS, and Laboratory Utilities. The four analytical instrument suites are the natural next priority — they are downstream consumers of the separations laboratory output decomposed this session. Alpha Spectrometry and Liquid Scintillation Counting should be tackled together as they receive purified fractions directly from the actinide and Sr/Cs separation stations respectively. Cross-subsystem interfaces between the separations lab outputs and the instrument suites will need definition.

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