This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or sewice by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, mommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors exprcsscd herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. DISCLAIMER Portions of this document may be illegible in electronic image products. Images are produced from the best available original document. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 .O BACKGROUND 2.0 ASSOCIATED MEASUREMENT RELIABILITIES 2.1 2.2 Calorimetry 2.2.1 Standards 2.2.2 Calorimetry of Bulk Materi a1 s 2.2.3 Calorimetry of Analytical Samples 2.2.4 Time Requirements 2 .2.5 Commerc i a1 Ava i 1 abi 1 i ty 2.3 Peff by the Computational Method 2.3.1 Random Errors Using Alpha and Mass Spectrometry 2.3.2 Random Errors Using Gama-Ray Spectrometry Estimation of Random and Systematic Errors 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.4 2.5 3.0 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Systematic Errors o f the Computational Method Systematic Errors o f Peff Using Gamma-Ray Peff by the Empirical Method
This report is the first of a series of reports covering work performed at Mound Laboratory at the request of the AEC Office of Safeguards and Materials Management. The purpose of this work is to test the feasibility and applicability of calorimetric assay of radioactive materials involved in the reactor fuel cycle, primarily plutonium. Included is a brief history of calorimetry, a description of the instrumentation and techniques used, and the results of the calorimetric assay of two reactor-fuel samples. These samples each contained approximately 1 kg of plutonium oxide feed material with isotopic compositions typical of plutonium from fast breeder reactors and light water reactors.
dissolution of preweighed exchange samples eliminated the need for laborious and usually futile heating to return the material to its original condition. The mean chemical assay values obtained by Mound and NBL agree to within 0.01% for each of the compositions tested. Testing of both chemical assay and calorimetric data revealed no sampling error throughout the experiment.
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