High energy neutron transmission analysis of dry cask storage

Journal Article · 23 August 2017 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.08.014 · OSTI ID:1454801

Greulich, Christopher ^[1]; Hughes, Christopher ^[1]; Gao, Yuan ^[1]; Enqvist, Andreas ^[1]; Baciak, James ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Program

Since the U.S. currently only approves of storing used nuclear fuel in pools or dry casks, the demand for dry cask storage is on the rise due to the continuous operation of currently existing nuclear plants which are reaching or have reached the capacity of their used fuel pools. With the rising demand comes additional pressure to ensure the integrity of dry cask systems. Visual inspection is costly and man-power intensive, so alternative nondestructive testing techniques are desired to insure the continued safe and effective storage of fuel. One such approach being investigated by the University of Florida is neutron based computed tomography. Simulations in MCNP are preformed where D-T energy neutrons are transmitted through the dry cask and measured on the opposite side. If the transmitted signal is clear enough, the interior of the cask can be reconstructed from the measurement of the alterations of neutron signal intensity using standard mathematical techniques developed for medical imaging. Preliminary efforts show a correlation between energy and number of scatters (which is an indication of retention of position information). Work is ongoing to quantify if the correlation is strong enough that an energy discriminator may be used as a filter in future image reconstruction. The calculated transmission probability suggests that an image could be reconstructed with a week of scanning.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE NA Office of Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development (NA-22); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0002534; NE0008400
• OSTI ID: 1454801
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1487097; OSTI ID: 1549757
• Journal Information: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 874, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English