Fissile assay of spent fuel using a slowing down time device

Conference · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:6774638

Block, R C; Harris, D R; Rodriguez-Vera, F; Slovacek, R; Abdurrahman, N

Effective techniques for assaying separately the fissile isotopes in spent reactor fuel are vitally important for adequate safeguards. Such techniques also are important in assigning credits for spent-fuel fissile contents, in confirming spent-fuel contents when taking credit for depletion in design of spent-fuel facilities, and in testing reactor analysis methods. Specifically, it is essential for safeguards to distinguish plutonium fissiles {sup 239}Pu and {sup 241}Pu from the uranium fissile {sup 235}U. This is important because plutonium can be chemically separated from the slightly enriched uranium used in most power reactors, and this plutonium then can be used in a nuclear explosive. The slowing down time (SDT) assay device is the only method that accomplishes this for spent fuel. The SDT assay method has been under development at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for more than 10 yr. Results have been reported on SDT measurements and calculations of the sensitivity of assay of the various fissiles in small samples, in single fuel pins, and in a depleted U{sub 3}O{sub 8} parallelepiped simulating a fuel element. In this paper the authors report measurements and analyses of SDT assay for a boiling water reactor (BWR) assembly mock-up fresh fuel.

• OSTI ID: 6774638
• Report Number(s): CONF-891103--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 60
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

055001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards
Inspection
& Accountability-- Technical Aspects
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ACCOUNTING
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALLOYS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CROSS SECTIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FISSION CHAMBERS
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUELS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
IONIZATION CHAMBERS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 241
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOASSAY
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SENSITIVITY
SPENT FUELS
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES