ANALYSIS OF FUEL ELEMENT CORE BLANKS FOR ARGONNE LOW POWER REACTOR BY GAMMA COUNTING
A technique based on a determinaiion of the differential counting rate exhibited by the 184-kev gamma radiation associated with the decay of U/sup 235/ was developed for the determination of the U/sup 235/ content in Argonne Low Power Reactor fuel element core blanks. The Argonne Low Power Reactor core blanks were an aluminum-highly enriched uranium alloy containing 17.5 weight per cent uranium (approximately 4 g U/sup 235/) having the following dimensions: length, 6.875 inches, width, 3.31 inches, and thickness, 0.200 inch. The gamma- ray spectrum emitied by uranium is rather complex. Using a scintillation spectrometer and scanning the spectrum, the energy is found to be concentrated primarily in two regions, at 184 and 90 kev. The 184-kev gamma rays result primarily from the decay of U/sup 235/ The gammas in the 90-kev region result from the U/sup 235/ decay and daughter products of U/sup 238/ and U/sup 235/. Using a pulse-height analyzer, it is possibie to select the desired radiation emitted from the source and determine the counting rate for a given source. In this work the 184-kev gamma radiation was counted to determine the amount of U/ sup 235/ present in the individual core blanks. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., Lemont, Ill.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- NSA Number:
- NSA-14-006034
- OSTI ID:
- 4206558
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-5944
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
U ENRICHMENT CAN BE CHECKED BY GAMM-RAY SPECTROMETRY
IN VIVO GAMMA COUNTING AS A MEASUREMENT OF URANIUM IN THE HUMAN LUNG