The use of curium neutrons to verify plutonium in spent fuel and reprocessing wastes

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10159617· OSTI ID:10159617

Miura, N ^[1]; Menlove, H O ^[2]

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1. Tokai Reprocessing Plant, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Works
2. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

For safeguards verification of spent fuel, leached hulls, and reprocessing wastes, it is necessary to determine the plutonium content in these items. We have evaluated the use of passive neutron multiplicity counting to determine the plutonium content directly and also to measure the {sup 240}Pu/{sup 244}Cm ratio for the indirect verification of the plutonium. Neutron multiplicity counting of the singles, doubles, and triples neutrons has been evaluated for measuring {sup 240}Pu, {sup 244}Cm, and {sup 252}Cf. We have proposed a method to establish the plutonium to curium ratio using the hybrid k-edge densitometer x-ray fluorescence instrument plus a neutron coincidence counter for the reprocessing dissolver solution. This report presents the concepts, experimental results, and error estimates for typical spent fuel applications.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 10159617
• Report Number(s): LA--12774-MS; ON: DE94013646
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

055001
350300
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400101
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ACTIVATION, NUCLEAR REACTION, RADIOMETRIC, AND RADIOCHEMICAL PROCEDURES
ARMS CONTROL
CALIFORNIUM 252
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
CURIUM 244
ISOTOPE RATIO
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM 240
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOMETRIC ANALYSIS
SAFEGUARDS
SPENT FUELS
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
VERIFICATION