Evaluation of the neutron self-interrogation approach for assay of plutonium in high materials

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:5693059

Russo, P A; Menlove, H O; Fife, K W; West, M H ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)

The pyrochemical scrap recovery processes, designed to extract impurities from plutonium metal and compounds, generate a variety of plutonium-laden residues consisting of high ({alpha},n) matrices of varying chemical composition, and often containing grams to tens of grams of americium. For such materials, multiplication corrections based on real neutron coincidence count rate, R, and total neutron count rate, T, measurements cannot be applied because of the large, unknown, and variable ({alpha},n) component in the total neutron emission rate. A study of the prototype self-interrogation assay method is in progress at the Los Alamos plutonium facility. In the self-interrogation approach, the assay signature R(IF)/T is a function of effective fissile plutonium content, where R(IF) is the induced fission component of the measured reals rate, and T is the measured, ({alpha},n)-dominated totals rate. The present study includes a calibration effort using standards consisting of mixtures of PuO{sub 2} and PuF{sub 4} in a salt-strip matrix. The neutron measurements of the standards and the process materials have been performed at the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility. The precision and accuracy of the self-interrogation method applied to pyrochemical residues is examined in this study.

• OSTI ID: 5693059
• Report Number(s): CONF-871110--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 55
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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