Nondestructive assay (NDA) of fissile material solutions in tanks at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site
Nondestructive assay of holdup in solution tanks at Rocky Flats has been performed to address criticality safety concerns since 1974. Destructive analysis techniques were used for quantification of the fissile material content of the tanks. With termination of operations in 1989, including sparging and sampling of tanks, a need arose for nondestructive assay of solutions in tanks to confirm previous inventory values. Gamma ray measurement methodologies were investigated and several techniques, including Poor Man`s Densitometry were implemented. These techniques have been applied to several different types of tanks including: annular, raschig ring filled, and pencil tanks. For the annular tanks ``Poor Man`s Densitometry`` is used, with the densities of the measured solutions normalized to the value of one ``accepted`` concentration tank. Measurement uncertainties for this technique has been better than was anticipated. Measurements are also performed at several levels to attempt to detect variations in density. For the current tank draining program, solution in tanks is assayed by the NDA gamma-ray technique before draining. Measurement results were obtained for plutonium, uranium, and mixtures of U/Pu solutions for concentrations ranging from less than 0.5 g/l to 150 g/l. Tanks with expected concentrations were used to establish a relationship between concentration and count rate. ``Bootstrapping`` calibration techniques were used in some cases to obtain quantitative results.
- Research Organization:
- Safe Sites of Colorado, Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC34-90RF62349
- OSTI ID:
- 90223
- Report Number(s):
- RFP-4973; CONF-950787-6; ON: DE95015352; TRN: 95:017796
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 36. annual meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Palm Desert, CA (United States), 9-12 Jul 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Applications of the absorption-edge densitometry NDA technique to solutions and solids
Demonstration of NDA technology for reprocessing input analytical measurements
Related Subjects
40 CHEMISTRY
ROCKY FLATS PLANT
SAFETY ANALYSIS
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
FISSILE MATERIALS
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
RADIOASSAY
INVENTORIES
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
GAMMA DETECTION
HIGH-PURITY GE DETECTORS
DATA COVARIANCES
URANIUM
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM NITRATES
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA