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Evaluating Nuclear Forensic Signatures for Advanced Reactor Deployment: A Research Priority Assessment

Journal Article · · Journal of Nuclear Engineering
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/jne5040032· OSTI ID:2481325
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2]
  1. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The development and deployment of a new generation of nuclear reactors necessitates a thorough evaluation of techniques used to characterize nuclear materials for nuclear forensic applications. Advanced fuels proposed for use in these reactors present both challenges and opportunities for the nuclear forensic field. Many efforts in pre-detonation nuclear forensics are currently focused on the analysis of uranium oxides, uranium ore concentrates, and fuel pellets since these materials have historically been found outside of regulatory control. The increasing use of TRISO particles, metal fuels, molten fuel salts, and novel ceramic fuels will require an expansion of the current nuclear forensic suite of signatures to accommodate the different physical dimensions, chemical compositions, and material properties of these advanced fuel forms. In this work, a semi-quantitative priority scoring system is introduced to identify the order in which the nuclear forensics community should pursue research and development on material signatures for advanced reactor designs. This scoring system was applied to propose the following priority ranking of six major advanced reactor categories: (1) molten salt reactor (MSR), (2) liquid metal-cooled reactor (LMR), (3) very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR), (4) fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR), (5) gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), and (6) supercritical water-cooled reactor (SWCR).

Research Organization:
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division (CSGB)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003996; AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2481325
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2481499
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-869868
Journal Information:
Journal of Nuclear Engineering, Vol. 5, Issue 4; ISSN 2673-4362
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Trace Actinide Signatures of a Bulk Neptunium Sample journal June 2023
The role of modern spectroscopy and chromatography in actinide and lanthanide chemistry for nuclear forensics journal July 2024
Suitability and Applications of Total-Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry for Analytical Characterization of Nuclear Materials journal February 2024
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Progress in Uranium Chemistry: Driving Advances in Front-End Nuclear Fuel Cycle Forensics journal February 2021
The Attractiveness of Materials in Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles for Various Proliferation and Theft Scenarios journal July 2012

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Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
nuclear forensics
advanced reactors
fuel cycle
forensic signatures
priority score