skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting

Abstract

We describe a new method for determining the ratio of the rate of (α, n) source neutrons to the rate of spontaneous fission neutrons, the so called α-ratio. This method is made possible by fast neutron counting with liquid scintillator detectors, which can determine the shape of the fast neutron spectrum. The method utilizes the spectral difference between fission spectrum neutrons from Pu metal and the spectrum of (α, n) neutrons from PuO2. Our method is a generalization of the Cifarelli-Hage method for determining keff for fissile assemblies, and also simultaneously determines keff along with the α-ratio.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1179419
Report Number(s):
LLNL-TR-666018
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND RUEL MATERIALS; 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Citation Formats

Verbeke, J. M., Chapline, G. F., Nakae, L. F., Prasad, M. K., Sheets, S. A., and Snyderman, N. J. Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.2172/1179419.
Verbeke, J. M., Chapline, G. F., Nakae, L. F., Prasad, M. K., Sheets, S. A., & Snyderman, N. J. Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1179419
Verbeke, J. M., Chapline, G. F., Nakae, L. F., Prasad, M. K., Sheets, S. A., and Snyderman, N. J. 2015. "Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1179419. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1179419.
@article{osti_1179419,
title = {Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting},
author = {Verbeke, J. M. and Chapline, G. F. and Nakae, L. F. and Prasad, M. K. and Sheets, S. A. and Snyderman, N. J.},
abstractNote = {We describe a new method for determining the ratio of the rate of (α, n) source neutrons to the rate of spontaneous fission neutrons, the so called α-ratio. This method is made possible by fast neutron counting with liquid scintillator detectors, which can determine the shape of the fast neutron spectrum. The method utilizes the spectral difference between fission spectrum neutrons from Pu metal and the spectrum of (α, n) neutrons from PuO2. Our method is a generalization of the Cifarelli-Hage method for determining keff for fissile assemblies, and also simultaneously determines keff along with the α-ratio.},
doi = {10.2172/1179419},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1179419}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}