Monitoring Burn-Up of Spent Fuel Assemblies by Gamma Spectrometry

Nguyen, Cong Tam; Almási, I.; Hlavathy, Zoltán; Zsigrai, Jozsef; Lakosi, L.; Nagy, Péter; Parkó, T.; Pós, I.

doi:10.1109/tns.2013.2241790

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…BU was determined by the activity ratio between 134 Cs and 137 Cs for 13 locations. The 604.7 keV ( 134 Cs) and 662 keV ( 137 Cs) peaks were used to determine the BU from the activity ratio, and the 795.8 keV peak ( 134 Cs) also was used in the calculation of the detection efficiency ratio [30]. The rod-average 137 Cs amount and BU were determined to be 1.949 mg/gU initial , 53.439 GWd/tU, and 57.975 GWd/tU for Cases #1, #2, and #3, respectively.…”

Section: Comparison Of Total Pu Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods

Seo

Ahn

Han

et al. 2016

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology

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A simple and fast method of nuclear material accountancy of pressurized water reactor (PWR) UO 2 spent fuel rods for safeguards application was developed utilizing the isotope correlation between the amounts of 137 Cs and total Pu. To this end, the following steps were taken: (1) as much destructive analysis (DA) data as possible for segments taken from a PWR UO 2 spent fuel rod were aggregated from publicly available data sources; (2) the DA data were corrected so as to have the same cooling time (i.e., CT = 0 y) and analyzed for outliers; (3) an equation converting the 137 Cs amount to the Pu amount was obtained by regression analysis with logarithmic curve fitting; and (4) the error in determining the Pu amount was evaluated for the imposition of a limit on the range of burnup (BU) or initial enrichment (IE). It was found that the averaged % error in calibration was determined to be 3.88% ± 2.68% (= mean ± 1 standard deviation) for the BU range over 30 GWd/tU and falling with increasing BU range. On the other hand, there was no benefit in applying the limit of the IE range. Lastly, the Pu-mass difference between various methods was compared and it was found that the difference can be incurred up to 11.4%, according to the choice of method. In conclusion, the proposed isotope correlation technique could be used for input material accountancy with reasonable uncertainty.

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Section: Comparison Of Total Pu Massmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods

Seo

Ahn

Han

et al. 2016

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology

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“…AMMA scanning and Gamma Emission Tomography (GET) are techniques for non-destructive assay of irradiated nuclear fuel [1,2,3]. These techniques present the valuable possibility to non-invasively obtain data regarding the fuel state and its nuclide composition [4,5], but also for the validation of the burnup and power distribution [6,7]. Other uses are the determination of fission gas release fraction [8], or the extent of fragmentation and relocation of nuclear fuel caused by in-pile transients [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Computational Methodology for Estimating the Detected Energy Spectra of the Gamma-Ray Flux From Irradiated Nuclear Fuel

Senis

Elter

Rathore

et al. 2022

IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.

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Gamma-ray spectrometry using collimated detectors is a well-established examination method for irradiated nuclear fuel. However, the feasibility of examining a particular nuclide of interest is subject to constraints; the peak must be statistically determinable with the desired precision and the total spectrum count rate in the detector should not cause throughput issues.Methods were assembled for gamma spectrum prediction to optimize instruments for gamma emission tomography and to enable a priori feasibility evaluation of determination of single peaks of irradiated nuclear fuel. The aim was to find reliable results (~10% accuracy) regarding total spectrum and peak count rates with faster computation time than a full-Monte Carlo approach. For this purpose, the method is based on depletion calculations with SERPENT2, a point-source kernel method for the collimator response, a rig response matrix and a detector response matrix, both computed with MCNP6. The computational methodology uses as input the fuel properties (dimensions, materials, power history, and cooling time), and the instrumental setup (collimator and detector dimensions and materials).The prediction method was validated using measured data from a high-burnup, short-cooled test fuel rodlet from the Halden reactor. Absolute count rates and ratios of characteristic peaks were compared between predicted and measured spectra, showing a total count rate overestimation of 7% and discrepancies between 2-20% for the single peaks (same order of magnitude of the uncertainty). This level of agreement is deemed sufficient for measurement campaigns planning, and the optimization of spectroscopic instruments for use in gamma scanning and tomography of nuclear fuel.

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“…Spectrometry of nuclear fuel assemblies is performed in axial gamma scanning devices (1), as well as more recently in gamma emission tomography (2), (3), (4). The spectrometric technique has many nuclear-fuel related applications, including:  Determination of burnup and power distributions of the nuclear fuel rod for code validation (5), (6).  Process monitoring and verification of burnup history in reprocessing plants (7), (8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The degradation of gamma-ray mass attenuation of UOX and MOX fuel with nuclear burnup

Atak

Anastasiadis

Jansson

et al. 2020

Progress in Nuclear Energy

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Nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometry of nuclear fuel is routinely performed in axial gamma scanning devices and more recently with gamma emission tomography. Following the irradiation of a fresh nuclear fuel with high intensity neutron flux in a nuclear reactor core, a great number of gamma-emitting radionuclides are created. These can be utilized for gamma spectrometric techniques. However, due to the high density and atomic number of the nuclear fuel, self-attenuation of gamma-rays is a challenge, which requires attenuation correction in order to perform accurate analysis of the source activity in the fuel.

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Monitoring Burn-Up of Spent Fuel Assemblies by Gamma Spectrometry

Cited by 15 publications

References 2 publications

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods

A Computational Methodology for Estimating the Detected Energy Spectra of the Gamma-Ray Flux From Irradiated Nuclear Fuel

The degradation of gamma-ray mass attenuation of UOX and MOX fuel with nuclear burnup

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Monitoring Burn-Up of Spent Fuel Assemblies by Gamma Spectrometry

Cited by 15 publications

References 2 publications

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO2 spent fuel rods

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO2 spent fuel rods

A Computational Methodology for Estimating the Detected Energy Spectra of the Gamma-Ray Flux From Irradiated Nuclear Fuel

The degradation of gamma-ray mass attenuation of UOX and MOX fuel with nuclear burnup

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Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods

Isotope correlation technique for Pu mass analysis of PWR UO₂ spent fuel rods