America\u27s Missing Link: Educational Reform and Workforce Development

This presentation was given at a White House meeting about the potential role of information literacy in Michelle Obama\u27s Reach Higher initiative on June 18, 2014

FY08 Annual Report for Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence Imaging

FY08 annual report for project the "Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence Imaging" project. Reviews accomplishments of last 3 years, including U-235 signature search, comparison of different photon sources, and examination of NRF measurements using monochromatic photon source

Ultra High-Rate Germanium (UHRGe) Modeling Status Report

The Ultra-High Rate Germanium (UHRGe) project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is conducting research to develop a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector that can provide both the high resolution typical of germanium and high signal throughput. Such detectors may be beneficial for a variety of potential applications ranging from safeguards measurements of used fuel to material detection and verification using active interrogation techniques. This report describes some of the initial radiation transport modeling efforts that have been conducted to help guide the design of the detector as well as a description of the process used to generate the source spectrum for the used fuel application evaluation

Implementing NRF Physics in Geant4

The Geant4 radiation transport Monte Carlo code toolkit currently does not support nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF). After a brief review of NRF physics, plans for implementing this physics process in Geant4, and validating the output of the code, are described. The plans will be executed as Task 3 of project 50799, "Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence Signatures (NuRFS)"

Report on Second Activations with the Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer

Summary On August 18 and 19 2011, five items were irradiated with neutrons using the Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer (LSDS). After irradiation, dose measurements and gamma-spectrometry measurements were completed on all of the samples. No contamination was found on the samples, and all but one provided no dose. Gamma-spectroscopy measurements qualitatively agreed with expectations based on the materials. As during the first activation run, we observed activation in the room in general, mostly due to 56Mn and 24Na. Most of the activation of the samples was short lived, with half-lives on the scale of hours to days, except for 60Co which has a half-life of 5.3 y

Report on First Activations with the Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer

On Feb. 17 and 18 2011, six items were irradiated with neutrons using the Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer. After irradiation, dose measurements and gamma-spectrometry measurements were completed on all of the samples. No contamination was found on the samples, and all but one provided no dose. Gamma-spectroscopy measurements qualitatively agreed with expectations based on the materials, with the exception of silver. We observed activation in the room in general, mostly due to 56Mn and 24Na. Most of the activation was short lived, with half-lives on the scale of hours, except for 198Au which has a half-life of 2.7 d

Lead Slowing-Down Spectrometry Time Spectral Analysis for Spent Fuel Assay: FY11 Status Report

Developing a method for the accurate, direct, and independent assay of the fissile isotopes in bulk materials (such as used fuel) from next-generation domestic nuclear fuel cycles is a goal of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle R&D, Material Protection and Control Technology (MPACT) Campaign. To meet this goal, MPACT supports a multi-institutional collaboration, of which PNNL is a part, to study the feasibility of Lead Slowing Down Spectroscopy (LSDS). This technique is an active nondestructive assay method that has the potential to provide independent, direct measurement of Pu and U isotopic masses in used fuel with an uncertainty considerably lower than the approximately 10% typical of today's confirmatory assay methods. This document is a progress report for FY2011 PNNL analysis and algorithm development. Progress made by PNNL in FY2011 continues to indicate the promise of LSDS analysis and algorithms applied to used fuel. PNNL developed an empirical model based on calibration of the LSDS to responses generated from well-characterized used fuel. The empirical model, which accounts for self-shielding effects using empirical basis vectors calculated from the singular value decomposition (SVD) of a matrix containing the true self-shielding functions of the used fuel assembly models. The potential for the direct and independent assay of the sum of the masses of 239Pu and 241Pu to within approximately 3% over a wide used fuel parameter space was demonstrated. Also, in FY2011, PNNL continued to develop an analytical model. Such efforts included the addition of six more non-fissile absorbers in the analytical shielding function and the non-uniformity of the neutron flux across the LSDS assay chamber. A hybrid analytical-empirical approach was developed to determine the mass of total Pu (sum of the masses of 239Pu, 240Pu, and 241Pu), which is an important quantity in safeguards. Results using this hybrid method were of approximately the same accuracy as the pure empirical approach. In addition, total Pu with much better accuracy with the hybrid approach than the pure analytical approach. In FY2012, PNNL will continue efforts to optimize its empirical model and minimize its reliance on calibration data. In addition, PNNL will continue to develop an analytical model, considering effects such as neutron-scattering in the fuel and cladding, as well as neutrons streaming through gaps between fuel pins in the fuel assembly

FY2010 Annual Report for the Actinide Isomer Detection Project

This project seeks to identify a new signature for actinide element detection in active interrogation. This technique works by exciting and identifying long-lived nuclear excited states (isomers) in the actinide isotopes and/or primary fission products. Observation of isomers in the fission products will provide a signature for fissile material. For the actinide isomers, the decay time and energy of the isomeric state is unique to a particular isotope, providing an unambiguous signature for Special Nuclear Materials (SNM). Future work will include a follow-up measurement scheduled for December 2010 at LBNL. Lessons learned from the July 2010 measurements will be incorporated into these new measurements. Analysis of both the July and December experiments will be completed in a few months. A research paper to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal will be drafted if the conclusions from the measurements warrant publication

High Repetition Rate, LINAC-Based Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence FY 2008 Final Report

This summarizes the first year of a multi-laboratory/university, multi-year effort focusing on high repetition rate, pulsed LINAC-based nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) measurements. Specifically, this FY2008 effort centered on experimentally assessing NRF measurements using pulsed linear electron accelerators, operated at various repetition rates, and identifying specific detection requirements to optimize such measurements. Traditionally, interest in NRF as a detection technology, which continues to receive funding from DHS and DOE/NA-22, has been driven by continuous-wave (CW), Van de Graff-based bremsstrahlung sources. However, in addition to the relatively sparse present-day use of Van de Graff sources, only limited NRF data from special nuclear materials has been presented; there is even less data available regarding shielding effects and photon source optimization for NRF measurements on selected nuclear materials

Methods and Instruments for Fast Neutron Detection

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory evaluated the performance of a large-area (~0.7 m2) plastic scintillator time-of-flight (TOF) sensor for direct detection of fast neutrons. This type of sensor is a readily area-scalable technology that provides broad-area geometrical coverage at a reasonably low cost. It can yield intrinsic detection efficiencies that compare favorably with moderator-based detection methods. The timing resolution achievable should permit substantially more precise time windowing of return neutron flux than would otherwise be possible with moderated detectors. The energy-deposition threshold imposed on each scintillator contributing to the event-definition trigger in a TOF system can be set to blind the sensor to direct emission from the neutron generator. The primary technical challenge addressed in the project was to understand the capabilities of a neutron TOF sensor in the limit of large scintillator area and small scintillator separation, a size regime in which the neutral particle’s flight path between the two scintillators is not tightly constrained