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Current state-of-the-art fission product separations frequently involve multiple independent separation columns and sample manipulation processes; to couple these processes together, multiple evaporation and transposition steps are often required. The addition of these steps results in lengthy separation times, increased analysis costs, the potential for sample loss, and release of radioactive contamination. We report a new semiautomated method for the rapid separation of U, Zr, Mo, Ba, Sr, Te, and lanthanide fission products from irradiated uranium samples. Chemical yields for U, Zr, Ba, Sr, Te and the lanthanides from less than 3-day old uranium fission product samples are consistently greater than 90%, while those of Mo are greater than 70%. This method minimizes the use and addition of oxidation and reduction reagents that often cause issues with retention and separation. Uranium dissolution and fission product separations using this single-pass method are achievable in under 2 h, representing a significant improvement over traditional gravimetric uranium fission product separation procedures.

This document is a compilation of infrasound and low-frequency acoustic signatures that characterize select nuclear reactor operations and hot-cell operations observed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in fiscal year 2018. Also included here are the results of digital signal analyses describing these signatures. This effort provides insight about the feasibility of using acoustic signatures for local and remote-sensing and identification of nuclear fuel-cycle operations. The signatures included here, in this first year of on-site observations at ORNL, will become part of the broader basis set of signatures collected by researchers involved in the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Operations Scenarios (MINOS) venture. The effort by MINOS researchers is to gain a deeper knowledge base of nuclear facility operations which may be used to improve nuclear facility monitoring capabilities. This compendium comprises signatures developed from sound signals that were measured at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center during the week of June 18, 2018. Most facility operations were performed specifically for this campaign, although some measurements were obtained in the course of normal operations. The knowledge gained from developing the signatures included herein will provide a better understanding that will be useful for upcoming measurement campaigns; as additional data becomes available it will be included in newer versions of this compendium.

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