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- Title
Assessing the Feasibility of Using Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA) for Assaying Plutonium in Spent Fuel Assemblies.
- Authors
Chichester, David L.; Sterbentz, James W.
- Abstract
Neutron resonance transmission analysis (NRTA) is an activeinterrogation nondestructive assay (NDA) technique capable of assaying spent nuclear fuel to determine plutonium content. Prior experimental work has definitively shown the technique capable of assaying plutonium isotope composition in spent fuel pins to a precision of approximately 3 percent, with a spatial resolution of a few millimeters. As a grand challenge to investigate NDA options for assaying spent fuel assemblies (SFAs) in the commercial fuel cycle, Idaho National Laboratory has explored the feasibility of using NRTA to assay plutonium in a whole SFA. The goal is to achieve a Pu assay precision of 1 percent. The NRTA technique uses low-energy neutrons from 0.1-40 eV, at the bottom end of the actinide-resonance range, in a time-of-flight arrangement. Isotopic composition is determined by relating absorption of the incident neutrons to the macroscopic cross-section of the actinides of interest in the material, and then using this information to determine the areal density of the isotopes in the SFA. The neutrons used for NRTA are produced using a pulsed, accelerator-based neutron source. Distinguishable resonances exist for both the plutonium (239,240,241,242Pu) and uranium (235,236,238U) isotopes of interest in spent fuel. Additionally, in this energy range resonances exist for six important fission products (99Tc, 103Rh, 131Xe, 133Cs, 145Nd, and 152Sm), which provide additional information to support spent fuel plutonium assay determinations. Based on extensive modeling of the problem using Monte Carlo-based simulation codes, our preliminary results suggest that by rotating an SFA to acquire two orthogonal views, sufficient neutron transmission can be achieved to assay a SFA. In this approach multiple scan information for the same pins may also be unfolded to potentially allow the determination of plutonium for sub-regions of the assembly. For a 17x17 pressurized water reactor SFA, a simplified preliminary analysis indicates the mass of 239Pu may be determined with a precision on the order of 5 percent, without the need for operator-supplied fuel information or operational histories.
- Subjects
NUCLEAR weapons safety; SPENT reactor fuels; PLUTONIUM metallurgy; RESONANCE integral (Nuclear physics); MACROSCOPIC kinetics
- Publication
Journal of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 2012, Vol 40, Issue 4, p41
- ISSN
0893-6188
- Publication type
Article