Low-resolution gamma-ray measurements of uranium enrichment

Sprinkle, J.K.; Christiansen, A.V.; Cole, R.; Collins, Michael L; Hsue, S.T.; Knepper, Paula; McKown, T.O.; Siebelist, R.

doi:10.1016/s0969-8043(97)00151-6

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Using only this criterium, the count rate will never decrease, although the last incremental addition of sample to the sample container might not contribute to the signal. In such a case, one has reached the so called infinite thickness [11] for the sample under measurement. The infinite thickness depends on the sample matrix and the gamma ray energy and is smaller for lower gamma ray energies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of background characteristics on the optimal sample filling height in gamma-ray spectrometry

Ramebäck

Vidmar

2020

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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The minimum detectable activity (MDA) for gamma spectrometric measurements was studied as a function of filling height for two detectors having different background characteristics and for two sample matrices: a water sample with a low content of natural radionuclides, and zircon sand, with high activities of uranium and thorium. The zircon sand is also a material in which the self-attenuation of low-energy gamma photons will be high. The results show that for the water sample it is always favourable to completely fill the sample container. However, due to the inherent content of naturally occurring radionuclides in the zircon sand the MDA may not necessarily improve with the filling height, since an increased amount of sample will increase the background in the spectrum as well.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of background characteristics on the optimal sample filling height in gamma-ray spectrometry

Ramebäck

Vidmar

2020

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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“…This is further compounded by the fact that these weak gammas are low energy, and therefore easy to shield. The intensity of a radiation signal also experiences an exponential decay through an absorbing medium, example, a 186-keV photon from the decay of 235 U has a µ  of approximately 0.33 cm -1 in aluminum, but about 27.49 cm -1 in uranium metal [6,12].…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Actinides via Nuclear Isomer De-Excitation

Francy

2009

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The detection of illicit weapons-grade nuclear material is a significant technical challenge receiving a great deal of attention in the nuclear community. A proposed solution is to actively bombard the I would like to offer Dr. Jennifer J. Ressler my sincere gratitude, for without her this research would not have been possible. From bringing me onto her team, arranging the funding that supported this work, revising my documents, to answering countless questions, she has been immensely helpful. Equally deserving of special recognition is Dr. Todd S. Palmer, who has served as my adviser for the past five years. Dr. Palmer has given me the inspiration, guidance, motivation, and professional advice I needed in order to be successful both academically and professionally. I would also like to recognize Dr. David M. Hamby, whose engaging teaching style and course materials were invaluable to the research performed for this thesis.

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“…Determination of the uranium enrichment for in-field safeguards applications is usually based on non-destructive X-and gamma-ray spectroscopy methods (GRS). HPGe and NaI detectors have traditionally been the detectors of choice for these tasks using a range of well-developed methods implemented in various commercially available software [5][6][7][8]. The underlying concept of these methods is based on the counting statistics premise with the net peak areas representing the quantitative information on the decaying radioisotopes in a sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the enrichment-meter method calibration standards with known enrichment are required to determine the proportionality constant prior to the measurements with unknown samples. Since the enrichment is determined from the net count rate in a single gamma peak, this method is effectively used in safeguards with low resolution detectors, such as NaI [8,9]. However, the necessity of calibration standards limits its possible applications in-field safeguards applications, especially in situations when such standards cannot be provided.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of the uranium enrichment without calibration standards using a 2 × 2 inch LaBr3(Ce) room temperature detector and Monte Carlo sampling approach for uncertainty assessment

2018

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In recent years room temperature medium resolution scintillation devices, such as LaBr3(Ce), have attracted much interest as possible alternatives to traditional spectrometers based on HPGe and NaI detectors, for the determination of the uranium enrichment in safeguards applications. This paper focuses on the investigation of possibilities and limits of a net peak area based methodology used for the determination of the uranium enrichment without use of calibration standards and introduces the isotopic code MCSIGMA for LaBr 3(Ce) scintillators. Tests are conducted with a room temperature, medium resolution spectrometer based on a 2 ×2 inch LaBr 3(Ce) scintillator using which spectra of different statistical quality are obtained from certified uranium standards. Gamma peaks in the 143-1001 keV energy range are used as uranium gamma-ray signatures. Results indicate a promising performance of the applied methodology with a room temperature medium resolution scintillator of the LaBr 3(Ce) type, however at a cost of significantly higher uncertainty budget on the derived enrichment compared to HPGe, especially for natural and depleted uranium samples. This uncertainty budget is primarily influenced by the statistical quality of the measured spectra. Implemented algorithms and analysis routines are described in detail and presented.

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Low-resolution gamma-ray measurements of uranium enrichment

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Influence of background characteristics on the optimal sample filling height in gamma-ray spectrometry

Influence of background characteristics on the optimal sample filling height in gamma-ray spectrometry

Detection of Actinides via Nuclear Isomer De-Excitation

Determination of the uranium enrichment without calibration standards using a 2 × 2 inch LaBr3(Ce) room temperature detector and Monte Carlo sampling approach for uncertainty assessment

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