TREC: Traceability of Radioactive Equipment at CERN

Activated accelerator components are frequently removed from service due to changes in design, configuration or maintenance work. Safe and effective management of such components is a necessity. Moreover, local authorities require the tracking of this equipment: any piece of equipment or waste which has been in a potentially radioactive area must be controlled by a radio protection responsible before leaving the accelerator premises. CERN must also be able to prove that the required measurements have been done and are properly stored in a computerized system. TREC is the official system used at CERN to trace potentially radioactive equipment. It replaces paper work by electronic data, manual phone calls by automatic email notifications and helps to enforce CERN safety rules. Some of the major benefits are the reduction of the delays related to equipment movements (from installation to workshops or waste storage areas) as well as increased personal safety. The system is fully integrated with the CMMS* tools used at CERN to ensure the complete equipment lifecycle’s traceability.