5 research outputs found
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Production and measurement of minor actinides in the commercial fuel cycle
The minor actinide elements, particularly neptunium and americium, are produced as a normal byproduct of the operation of thermal power reactors. Because of the existence of long-lived isotopes of these elements, they constitute the major sources of the residual radiation in spent fuel or in wastes resulting from reprocessing. This has led to examinations by some countries of the possibility of separating the minor actinides from waste products. The papers found in this report address the production of minor actinides in common thermal power reactors as well as approaches to measure these materials in various media. The first paper in this volume, {open_quotes}Production of Minor Actinides in the Commercial Fuel Cycle,{close_quotes} uses calculations with the ORIGEN2 reactor and decay code to estimate the amounts of minor actinides in spent fuel and separated plutonium as a function of reactor irradiation and the time after discharge. The second paper, {open_quotes}Destructive Assay of Minor Actinides,{close_quotes} describes a number of promising approaches for the chemical analysis of minor actinides in the various forms in which they are found at reprocessing plants. The next paper, {open_quotes}Hybrid KED/XRF Measurement of Minor Actinides in Reprocessing Plants,{close_quotes} uses the results of a simulation model to examine the possible applications of the hybrid KED/XRF instrument to the determination of minor actinides in some of the solutions found in reprocessing plants. In {open_quotes}Calorimetric Assay of Minor Actinides,{close_quotes} the authors show some possible extensions of this powerful technique beyond the normal plutonium assays to include the minor actinides. Finally, the last paper in this volume, {open_quotes}Environment Measurements of Transuranic Nuclides,{close_quotes} discusses what is known about the levels of the minor actinides in the environment and ways to analyze for these materials in environmental matrices
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THIEF, Version 1. 0: An interactive simulation of nuclear materials safeguards and security
This is a users manual for the prototype of THIEF: an interactive simulation of safeguards and security at a nuclear facility. The program puts the user in the position of an insider trying to steal special nuclear material from a facility. The program runs on IBM PC compatible microcomputers with a minimum of 640K of RAM, an EGA or VGA graphics card, and preferably a color monitor. 5 figs., 6 tabs
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Studies in support of an SNM cutoff agreement: The PUREX exercise
On September 23, 1993, President Clinton, in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, called for an international agreement banning the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for nuclear explosive purposes. A major element of any verification regime for such an agreement would probably involve inspections of reprocessing plants in Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty weapons states. Many of these are large facilities built in the 1950s with no thought that they would be subject to international inspection. To learn about some of the problems that might be involved in the inspection of such large, old facilities, the Department of Energy, Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, sponsored a mock inspection exercise at the PUREX plant on the Hanford Site. This exercise examined a series of alternatives for inspections of the PUREX as a model for this type of facility at other locations. A series of conclusions were developed that can be used to guide the development of verification regimes for a cutoff agreement at reprocessing facilities
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Production of minor actinides in the commercial fuel cycle
The minor actinides are an inevitable by-product of the production of electricity with thermal reactors. This paper will review the mechanisms of production of the principal minor actinides ({sup 237}Np, {sup 241}Am, and {sup 243}Am) and their expected concentrations in spent fuel from commercial power reactors as well as in Pu produced from reprocessing these types of spent fuels. All the results shown are derived from calculations done using the ORIGEN2 reactor code
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Use of Stable Noble Gases as a Predictor of Reactor Fuel Type and Exposure
Ensuring spent reactor fuel is not produced to provide weapons-grade plutonium is becoming a major concern as many countries resort to nuclear power as a solution to their energy problems. Proposed solutions range from the development of proliferation resistant fuel to continuous monitoring of the fuel. This paper discusses the use of the stable isotopes of the fissiogenic noble gases, xenon and krypton, for determining the burnup characteristics, fuel type, and the reactor type of the fuel from which the sample was obtained. The gases would be collected on-stack as the fuel is reprocessed, and thus confirm that the fuel is as declared