Design of active-neutron fuel rod scanner

Griffith, George W.; Menlove, H.O.

doi:10.1016/0168-9002(96)00233-1

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The total fissile mass is estimated from the total gamma-ray intensity. A separate measurement of Pu mass is then made with passive gamma-ray measurements, and the excess is assumed to be U [15]. This active/passive coupling can be applied to fresh fuel rods, but not to irradiated materials because the passive measurement would be overwhelmed by the long-lived fission product emissions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Energy Delayed Gamma Spectroscopy for Spent Nuclear Fuel Assay

Campbell

Smith

Misner

2011

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High-accuracy, direct, nondestructive measurement of fissile and fissionable isotopes in spent fuel, particularly the Pu isotopes, is a well-documented, but still unmet challenge in international safeguards. As nuclear fuel cycles propagate around the globe, the need for improved materials accountancy techniques for irradiated light-water reactor fuel will increase. This modeling study investigates the use of delayed gamma rays from fission-product nuclei to directly measure the relative concentrations of 235 U, 239 Pu, and 241 Pu in spent fuel assemblies. The method is based on the unique distribution of fission-product nuclei produced from fission in each of these fissile isotopes. Fission is stimulated in the assembly with a pulse-capable source of interrogating neutrons. The measured distributions of the short-lived fission products from the unknown sample are then fit with a linear combination of the known fission-product yield curves from pure 235 U, 239 Pu, and 241 Pu to determine the original proportions of these fissile isotopes. Modeling approaches for the intense gamma-ray background promulgated by the long-lived fission-product inventory and for the high-energy gamma-ray signatures emitted by short-lived fission products from induced fission are described. Benchmarking measurements are presented and compare favorably with the results of these models. Results for the simulated assay of simplified individual fuel rods ranging from fresh to 60-GWd/MTU burnup demonstrate the utility of the modeling methods for viability studies, although additional work is needed to more realistically assess the potential of High-Energy Delayed Gamma Spectroscopy (HEDGS).Index Terms-Gamma-ray spectroscopy, nondestructive assay, nuclear fuel cycle safeguards, nuclear fuels.

show abstract