Evaluation of Plutonium Oxidation Using Pulsed Neutron Measurements with ²⁵²Cf

Conference · Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 1997

OSTI ID:522712

Valentine, Timothy E. ^[1]; Mihalczo, John T. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The unrecognized oxidation of plutonium in "sealed" canisters poses a unique problem for both material control and accountability. A feasibility study was performed to address the use of randomly pulsed neutron measurements with ²⁵²Cf to determine if plutonium metal in a canister has oxidized without opening the container. The Monte Carlo code MCNP-DSP was used to determine if time-of-flight transmission measurements could be used to determine oxidation of plutonium in "sealed" cans. In the Monte Carlo models, a plutonium button in a can was positioned between a ²⁵²Cf source and a scintillation detector, and the time distribution of counts after ²⁵²Cf fission in the detector was calculated. The time distribution of counts after ²⁵²Cf fission differs between plutonium metal and plutonium oxide because resonances in oxygen will affect transmission of certain energy neutrons from ²⁵²Cf sources in ionization chambers. This method could be used to determine the presence of other materials that react with plutonium in "sealed" cans.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-96OR22464
• OSTI ID: 522712
• Report Number(s): CONF-970744-22; ON: DE97008476; TRN: 97:018497
• Resource Relation: Conference: 38. Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management , Phoenix, AZ (United States), 20-24 Jul 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
PLUTONIUM
OXIDATION
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
MEASURING METHODS
PULSED NEUTRON TECHNIQUES
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Plutonium Metal
Scintillation Detector
Monte Carlo Code
MCNP-DSP
Randomly Pulsed Neutron Measurements
Non-Destructive Assay (NDA)
Fissile Material
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Algorithms