Characterization of Old Nuclear Waste Packages Coupling Photon Activation Analysis and Complementary Non-Destructive Techniques

Abstract

Radiological characterization of nuclear waste packages is an industrial issue in order to select the best mode of storage. The characterization becomes crucial particularly for waste packages produced at the beginning of the French nuclear industry. For the latter, available information is often incomplete and some key parameters are sometimes missing (content of the package, alpha-activity, fissile mass…) In this case, the use of non-destructive methods, both passive and active, is an appropriate solution to characterize nuclear waste packages and to obtain all the information of interest. In this article, we present the results of a complete characterization carried out on the TE 1060 block, which is a nuclear waste package produced during the 1960's in Saclay. This characterization is part of the DEMSAC (Dismantling of Saclay's facilities) project (ICPE part). It has been carried out in the SAPHIR facility, located in Saclay and housing a linear electron accelerator. This work enables to show the great interest of active methods (photon activation analysis and high-energy imaging) as soon as passive techniques encounter severe limitations.

Rejection of partial-discharge-induced pulses in fission chambers designed for sodium-cooled fast reactors

“…Tests under irradiation have been performed at the SAPHIR facility [8] which is located at CEA in Saclay (France). The SAPHIR facility houses two electron accelerators.…”

Characterization and Localization of Partial-Discharge-Induced Pulses in Fission Chambers Designed for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

“…Figure 6 shows the PD count as a function of time, acquired through the PING time-stamping acquisition system, developed at the French Atomic Commission (CEA) [6]. The larger fission chambers (HTFC 1A and 1B) have been tested twice: the first test (solid line) was made in a conventional laboratory while the second tests (dashed line) were made in the underground and shielded SAPHIR facility [7] which is located at CEA in Saclay (France).…”

Nuclear instrumentation and measurement: a review based on the ANIMMA conferences

“…Design calculations and modeling are carried out by using Monte-Carlo transport codes and specific photon (and neutron) imaging tool. Carrel et al [97] showed the possibilities of using a LINAC for nondestructive characterization of radioactive waste packages of large volumes by using both passive and active measurement such as photofission interrogation, photo activation and photon imaging. The global 238 U equivalent mass obtained after photofission tomography measurements is equal to 178.7 g which is the finest evaluation of the 238 U mass contained in the package using photofission measurements performed in these works.…”