Feasibility study--computerized application of the hazardous material regulations

The feasibility of developing a full expert system for transportation and packaging of hazardous and radioactive materials was initiated within the framework of three subtasks: (1) analysis of commercial packages related to regulation scanning, (2) analysis of computer languages to develop the expert system, and (3) development of expert system prototypes. The strategy to develop the latter subtask was to first,develop modules to capture the knowledge of different areas of transportation and packaging and second, to analyze the feasibility of appending these different modules in one final full package. The individual modules development contemplated one prototype for transporting and packaging of radioactive material and another for transporting hazardous chemical materials. In the event that it is not feasible to link these two packages, the modules can always be used as stand-alone tools, or linked as a single package with some restrictions in their applicability. The work done during this fiscal year has focused on developing a prototype for transporting radioactive materials.