Modeling radiation and hydrogen production in a radioisotope micro-power source

Radioisotope based power systems have been used for several decades. This research covers a new concept in the field, a radioisotope micro-power source (RIMS). A RIMS cell consists of a radioactive source, a hydrogenous material, and a hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell is powered by hydrogen separated from the hydrogenous material, in this ease water, by the energy deposition of the particles emitted by the radioisotope. This process is known as radiolysis. The amount of hydrogen produced through radiolysis is determined by the G value of the hydrogenous material, which is a function of that material's stopping power. This thesis includes models of hydrogen production of various isotopes, the self-shielding of source particles, the shielding effects of an infinite medium of particles, the hydrogen production of a porous plate, and the hydrogen production of a beam in a particle accelerator

Simulated antineutrino signatures of nuclear reactors for nonproliferation applications

Antineutrino detectors could provide a valuable addition to current safeguards regimes. Antineutrinos are an attractive emission to monitor due to their low interaction cross-section that prevents them from being shielded and the dependence of their spectrum on the power level and isotopic content of a reactor core. While there are antineutrino detectors currently deployed at an operational reactor, such observations cannot predict the effect of the diversion of nuclear material on the antineutrino emissions. Utilizing simulation tools, one can predict the antineutrino signatures of such abnormal operations and other reactor types that have not been experimentally measured. This study simulates reactor cores with assembly-level resolution for both baseline and diversion cases in order to predict the properties of a detector for measuring the differences in the antineutrino signatures

Low-Intrusion Techniques and Sensitive Information Management for Warhead Counting and Verification: FY2012 Annual Report

Progress in the second year of this project is described by the series of technical reports and manuscripts that make up the content of this report. These documents summarize successes in our goals to develop our robust image-hash templating and material-discrimination techniques and apply them to test image data

A New Class of Four-Dimensional N=1 Supergravity with Non-minimal Derivative Couplings

In the N=1 four-dimensional new-minimal supergravity framework, we supersymmetrise the coupling of the scalar kinetic term to the Einstein tensor. This coupling, although introduces a non-minimal derivative interaction of curvature to matter, it does not introduce harmful higher-derivatives. For this construction, we employ off-shell chiral and real linear multiplets. Physical scalars are accommodated in the chiral multiplet whereas curvature resides in a linear one.Comment: 18 pages, version published at JHE

TeV Mini Black Hole Decay at Future Colliders

It is generally believed that mini black holes decay by emitting elementary particles with a black body energy spectrum. The original calculation lead to the conclusion that about the 90% of the black hole mass is radiated away in the form of photons, neutrinos and light leptons, mainly electrons and muons. With the advent of String Theory, such a scenario must be updated by including new effects coming from the stringy nature of particles and interactions.By taking for granted that black holes can be produced in hadronic collisions, then their decay must take into account that: (i) we live in a D3-Brane embedded into an higher dimensional bulk spacetime; (ii) fundamental interactions, including gravity, are unified at TeV energy scale. Thus, the formal description of the Hawking radiation mechanism has to be extended to the case of more than four spacetime dimensions and include the presence of D-branes. Furthermore, unification of fundamental interactions at an energy scale many order of magnitude lower than the Planck energy implies that any kind of fundamental particle, not only leptons, is expected to be emitted. A detailed understanding of the new scenario is instrumental for optimal tuning of detectors at future colliders, where, hopefully, this exciting new physics will be tested. In this article we review higher dimensional black hole decay, considering not only the emission of particles according to Hawking mechanism, but also their near horizon QED/QCD interactions. The ultimate motivation is to build up a phenomenologically reliable scenario, allowing a clear experimental signature of the event.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables; ``quick review'' for Class. and Quantum Gra

Imaging for dismantlement verification: information management and analysis algorithms

The level of detail discernible in imaging techniques has generally excluded them from consideration as verification tools in inspection regimes. An image will almost certainly contain highly sensitive information, and storing a comparison image will almost certainly violate a cardinal principle of information barriers: that no sensitive information be stored in the system. To overcome this problem, some features of the image might be reduced to a few parameters suitable for definition as an attribute. However, this process must be performed with care. Computing the perimeter, area, and intensity of an object, for example, might reveal sensitive information relating to shape, size, and material composition. This paper presents three analysis algorithms that reduce full image information to non-sensitive feature information. Ultimately, the algorithms are intended to provide only a yes/no response verifying the presence of features in the image. We evaluate the algorithms on both their technical performance in image analysis, and their application with and without an explicitly constructed information barrier. The underlying images can be highly detailed, since they are dynamically generated behind the information barrier. We consider the use of active (conventional) radiography alone and in tandem with passive (auto) radiography

Expanding Paramedicine in the Community (EPIC): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The incidence of chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is on the rise. The existing health care system must evolve to meet the growing needs of patients with these chronic diseases and reduce the strain on both acute care and hospital-based health care resources. Paramedics are an allied health care resource consisting of highly-trained practitioners who are comfortable working independently and in collaboration with other resources in the out-of-hospital setting. Expanding the paramedic’s scope of practice to include community-based care may decrease the utilization of acute care and hospital-based health care resources by patients with chronic disease. METHODS/DESIGN: This will be a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial comparing a community paramedic intervention to standard of care for patients with one of three chronic diseases. The objective of the trial is to determine whether community paramedics conducting regular home visits, including health assessments and evidence-based treatments, in partnership with primary care physicians and other community based resources, will decrease the rate of hospitalization and emergency department use for patients with DM, HF and COPD. The primary outcome measure will be the rate of hospitalization at one year. Secondary outcomes will include measures of health system utilization, overall health status, and cost-effectiveness of the intervention over the same time period. Outcome measures will be assessed using both Poisson regression and negative binomial regression analyses to assess the primary outcome. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will be used to inform decisions around the implementation of community paramedic programs. If successful in preventing hospitalizations, it has the ability to be scaled up to other regions, both nationally and internationally. The methods described in this paper will serve as a basis for future work related to this study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02034045. Date: 9 January 2014. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1745-6215-15-473) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Enrichment Assay Methods Development for the Integrated Cylinder Verification System

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors currently perform periodic inspections at uranium enrichment plants to verify UF6 cylinder enrichment declarations. Measurements are typically performed with handheld high-resolution sensors on a sampling of cylinders taken to be representative of the facility's entire product-cylinder inventory. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing a concept to automate the verification of enrichment plant cylinders to enable 100 percent product-cylinder verification and potentially, mass-balance calculations on the facility as a whole (by also measuring feed and tails cylinders). The Integrated Cylinder Verification System (ICVS) could be located at key measurement points to positively identify each cylinder, measure its mass and enrichment, store the collected data in a secure database, and maintain continuity of knowledge on measured cylinders until IAEA inspector arrival. The three main objectives of this FY09 project are summarized here and described in more detail in the report: (1) Develop a preliminary design for a prototype NDA system, (2) Refine PNNL's MCNP models of the NDA system, and (3) Procure and test key pulse-processing components. Progress against these tasks to date, and next steps, are discussed

Hybrid Enrichment Assay Methods for a UF6 Cylinder Verification Station: FY10 Progress Report

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing the concept of an automated UF6 cylinder verification station that would be located at key measurement points to positively identify each cylinder, measure its mass and enrichment, store the collected data in a secure database, and maintain continuity of knowledge on measured cylinders until the arrival of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. At the center of this unattended system is a hybrid enrichment assay technique that combines the traditional enrichment-meter method (based on the 186 keV peak from 235U) with non-traditional neutron-induced high-energy gamma-ray signatures (spawned primarily by 234U alpha emissions and 19F(alpha, neutron) reactions). Previous work by PNNL provided proof-of-principle for the non-traditional signatures to support accurate, full-volume interrogation of the cylinder enrichment, thereby reducing the systematic uncertainties in enrichment assay due to UF6 heterogeneity and providing greater sensitivity to material substitution scenarios. The work described here builds on that preliminary evaluation of the non-traditional signatures, but focuses on a prototype field system utilizing NaI(Tl) and LaBr3(Ce) spectrometers, and enrichment analysis algorithms that integrate the traditional and non-traditional signatures. Results for the assay of Type-30B cylinders ranging from 0.2 to 4.95 wt% 235U, at an AREVA fuel fabrication plant in Richland, WA, are described for the following enrichment analysis methods: 1) traditional enrichment meter signature (186 keV peak) as calculated using a square-wave convolute (SWC) algorithm; 2) non-traditional high-energy gamma-ray signature that provides neutron detection without neutron detectors and 3) hybrid algorithm that merges the traditional and non-traditional signatures. Uncertainties for each method, relative to the declared enrichment for each cylinder, are calculated and compared to the uncertainties from an attended HPGe verification station at AREVA, and the IAEA’s uncertainty target values for feed, tail and product cylinders. A summary of the major findings from the field measurements and subsequent analysis follows: • Traditional enrichment-meter assay using specially collimated NaI spectrometers and a Square-Wave-Convolute algorithm can achieve uncertainties comparable to HPGe and LaBr for product, natural and depleted cylinders. • Non-traditional signatures measured using NaI spectrometers enable interrogation of the entire cylinder volume and accurate measurement of absolute 235U mass in product, natural and depleted cylinders. • A hybrid enrichment assay method can achieve lower uncertainties than either the traditional or non-traditional methods acting independently because there is a low degree of correlation in the systematic errors of the two individual methods (wall thickness variation and 234U/235U variation, respectively). This work has indicated that the hybrid NDA method has the potential to serve as the foundation for an unattended cylinder verification station. When compared to today’s handheld cylinder-verification approach, such a station would have the following advantages: 1) improved enrichment assay accuracy for product, tail and feed cylinders; 2) full-volume assay of absolute 235U mass; 3) assay of minor isotopes (234U and 232U) important to verification of feedstock origin; single instrumentation design for both Type 30B and Type 48 cylinders; and 4) substantial reduction in the inspector manpower associated with cylinder verification

Hybrid Enrichment Assay Methods for a UF6 Cylinder Verification Station: FY10 Progress Report

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing the concept of an automated UF6 cylinder verification station that would be located at key measurement points to positively identify each cylinder, measure its mass and enrichment, store the collected data in a secure database, and maintain continuity of knowledge on measured cylinders until the arrival of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. At the center of this unattended system is a hybrid enrichment assay technique that combines the traditional enrichment-meter method (based on the 186 keV peak from 235U) with non-traditional neutron-induced high-energy gamma-ray signatures (spawned primarily by 234U alpha emissions and 19F(alpha, neutron) reactions). Previous work by PNNL provided proof-of-principle for the non-traditional signatures to support accurate, full-volume interrogation of the cylinder enrichment, thereby reducing the systematic uncertainties in enrichment assay due to UF6 heterogeneity and providing greater sensitivity to material substitution scenarios. The work described here builds on that preliminary evaluation of the non-traditional signatures, but focuses on a prototype field system utilizing NaI(Tl) and LaBr3(Ce) spectrometers, and enrichment analysis algorithms that integrate the traditional and non-traditional signatures. Results for the assay of Type-30B cylinders ranging from 0.2 to 4.95 wt% 235U, at an AREVA fuel fabrication plant in Richland, WA, are described for the following enrichment analysis methods: 1) traditional enrichment meter signature (186 keV peak) as calculated using a square-wave convolute (SWC) algorithm; 2) non-traditional high-energy gamma-ray signature that provides neutron detection without neutron detectors and 3) hybrid algorithm that merges the traditional and non-traditional signatures. Uncertainties for each method, relative to the declared enrichment for each cylinder, are calculated and compared to the uncertainties from an attended HPGe verification station at AREVA, and the IAEA’s uncertainty target values for feed, tail and product cylinders. A summary of the major findings from the field measurements and subsequent analysis follows: • Traditional enrichment-meter assay using specially collimated NaI spectrometers and a Square-Wave-Convolute algorithm can achieve uncertainties comparable to HPGe and LaBr for product, natural and depleted cylinders. • Non-traditional signatures measured using NaI spectrometers enable interrogation of the entire cylinder volume and accurate measurement of absolute 235U mass in product, natural and depleted cylinders. • A hybrid enrichment assay method can achieve lower uncertainties than either the traditional or non-traditional methods acting independently because there is a low degree of correlation in the systematic errors of the two individual methods (wall thickness variation and 234U/235U variation, respectively). This work has indicated that the hybrid NDA method has the potential to serve as the foundation for an unattended cylinder verification station. When compared to today’s handheld cylinder-verification approach, such a station would have the following advantages: 1) improved enrichment assay accuracy for product, tail and feed cylinders; 2) full-volume assay of absolute 235U mass; 3) assay of minor isotopes (234U and 232U) important to verification of feedstock origin; single instrumentation design for both Type 30B and Type 48 cylinders; and 4) substantial reduction in the inspector manpower associated with cylinder verification