Analysis of the Reactor Position Independent Monitor (PIM) Diagnostic
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
In this note I analyze the physics determining the proposed reactor position independent monitor (PIM), which is the ratio (240Pu/239Pu)1/3 × (135Cs/137Cs)1/2. The PIM ratios in any reactor fuel is shown to increase monotonically with the time over which the fuel is irradiated. This is because the Cs ratio determines the neutron flux, while the Pu isotopic ratio is determined by the flux times the irradiation time. If the irradiation time for all fuel rods across the reactor is fixed, the PIM ratio is approximately constant in all rods. However, no information can be extracted from the PIM ratio on Pu isotopics unless both the flux (or Cs ratio) and the irradiation time (from, say, Ru isotopics) are known separately, i.e., the PIM ratio is not a fundamental parameter of any reactor. Thus, unless the PIM ratio has been measured for the specific fuel under interrogation, no information can be deduced from measurements or reactor simulations of PIM ratios in different fuel from the same reactor. However, if a PIM measurement has been in one spent fuel rod from a given reactor, all other rods that are known to have been in the reactor for the same irradiation period can be assumed to have approximately the same PIM ratio.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1143985
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-14-25449
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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