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

Title: Low-enriched uranium holdup measurements in Kazakhstan

Conference ·
OSTI ID:319609
; ;  [1]
  1. Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, TN (United States); and others

Quantification of the residual nuclear material remaining in process equipment has long been a challenge to those who work with nuclear material accounting systems. Fortunately, nuclear material has spontaneous radiation emissions that can be measured. If gamma-ray measurements can be made, it is easy to determine what isotope a deposit contains. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to relate this measured signal to an estimate of the mass of the nuclear deposit. Typically, the measurement expert must work with incomplete or inadequate information to determine a quantitative result. Simplified analysis models, the distribution of the nuclear material, any intervening attenuation, background(s), and the source-to-detector distance(s) can have significant impacts on the quantitative result. This presentation discusses the application of a generalized-geometry holdup model to the low-enriched uranium fuel pellet fabrication plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. Preliminary results will be presented. Software tools have been developed to assist the facility operators in performing and documenting the measurements. Operator feedback has been used to improve the user interfaces.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
319609
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-98-2841; CONF-980733-; ON: DE99001821; TRN: 99:003918
Resource Relation:
Conference: 39. Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) annual meeting, Naples, FL (United States), 26-30 Jul 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English