Plutonium Signatures in Molten-Salt Reactor Off-Gas Tank and Safeguards Considerations

Dunkle, Nicholas; Wheeler, Alex; Richardson, Jarod; Bogetic, Sandra; Chvala, Ondrej; Skutnik, Steven E.

doi:10.3390/jne4020028

Title: Plutonium Signatures in Molten-Salt Reactor Off-Gas Tank and Safeguards Considerations

Journal Article · 17 May 2023 · Journal of Nuclear Engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jne4020028 · OSTI ID:1974299

; Wheeler, Alex; Richardson, Jarod; Bogetic, Sandra;

; Skutnik, Steven E.

Fluid-fueled molten-salt reactors (MSRs) are actively being developed by several companies, with plans to deploy them internationally. The current IAEA inspection tools are largely incompatible with the unique design features of liquid fuel MSRs (e.g., the complex fuel chemistry, circulating fuel inventory, bulk accountancy, and high radiation environment). For these reasons, safeguards for MSRs are seen as challenging and require the development of new techniques. This paper proposes one such technique through the observation of the reactor’s off-gas. Any reactor design using low-enriched uranium will build up plutonium as the fuel undergoes burnup. Plutonium has different fission product yields than uranium. Therefore, a shift in fission product production is expected with fuel evolution. The passive removal of certain gaseous fission products to the off-gas tank of an MSR provides a valuable opportunity for analysis without significant modifications to the design of the system. Uniquely, due to the gaseous nature of the isotopes, beta particle emissions are available for observation. The ratios of these fission product isotopes can, thus, be traced back to the relative amount and types of fissile isotopes in the core. This proposed technique represents an effective safeguards tool for bulk accountancy which, while avoiding being onerous, could be used in concert with other techniques to meet the IAEA’s timeliness goals for the detection of a diversion.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: NE0008793

OSTI ID:: 1974299

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Engineering Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 4; ISSN 2673-4362

Publisher:: MDPI AGCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Switzerland

Language:: English

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