Manual for the Portable Handheld Neutron Counter (PHNC) for Neutron Survey and the Measurement of Plutonium Samples

We have designed a portable neutron detector for passive neutron scanning measurement and coincidence counting of bulk samples of plutonium. The counter will be used for neutron survey applications as well as the measurement of plutonium samples for portable applications. The detector uses advanced design {sup 3}He tubes to increase the efficiency and battery operated shift register electronics. This report describes the hardware, performance, and calibration for the system

Channel coincidence counter: version 1

A thermal neutron coincidence counter has been designed for the assay of fast critical assembly fuel drawers and plutonium-bearing fuel rods. The principal feature of the detector is a 7-cm by 7-cm by 97-cm detector channel, which provides a uniform neutron detection efficiency of 16% along the central 40 cm of the channel. The electronics system is identical to that used for the High-Level Neutron Coincidence Counter

Application of curium measurements for safeguarding at reprocessing plants. Study 1: High-level liquid waste and Study 2: Spent fuel assemblies and leached hulls

In large-scale reprocessing plants for spent fuel assemblies, the quantity of plutonium in the waste streams each year is large enough to be important for nuclear safeguards. The wastes are drums of leached hulls and cylinders of vitrified high-level liquid waste. The plutonium amounts in these wastes cannot be measured directly by a nondestructive assay (NDA) technique because the gamma rays emitted by plutonium are obscured by gamma rays from fission products, and the neutrons from spontaneous fissions are obscured by those from curium. The most practical NDA signal from the waste is the neutron emission from curium. A diversion of waste for its plutonium would also take a detectable amount of curium, so if the amount of curium in a waste stream is reduced, it can be inferred that there is also a reduced amount of plutonium. This report studies the feasibility of tracking the curium through a reprocessing plant with neutron measurements at key locations: spent fuel assemblies prior to shearing, the accountability tank after dissolution, drums of leached hulls after dissolution, and canisters of vitrified high-level waste after separation. Existing pertinent measurement techniques are reviewed, improvements are suggested, and new measurements are proposed. The authors integrate these curium measurements into a safeguards system

Expected precision of neutron multiplicity measurements of waste drums

DOE facilities are beginning to apply passive neutron multiplicity counting techniques to the assay of plutonium scrap and residues. There is also considerable interest in applying this new measurement technique to 208-liter waste drums. The additional information available from multiplicity counting could flag the presence of shielding materials or improve assay accuracy by correcting for matrix effects such as ({alpha},n) induced fission or detector efficiency variations. The potential for multiplicity analysis of waste drums, and the importance of better detector design, can be estimated by calculating the expected assay precision using a Figure of Merit code for assay variance. This paper reports results obtained as a function of waste drum content and detector characteristics. We find that multiplicity analysis of waste drums is feasible if a high-efficiency neutron counter is used. However, results are significantly poorer if the multiplicity analysis must be used to solve for detection efficiency

NBC operation manual including the multi-position add-a-source function

This manual describes the design modifications and operating characteristics of a 200-l-drum neutron coincidence counter. The counter has six shielded banks of {sup 3}He tubes and JSR-11 shift register coincidence electronics. The modified design has a counting efficiency of 19.3%. The neutron counter measures the spontaneous-fission rate from the plutonium, and when this is combined with the plutonium isotopic ratios, we can determine the plutonium mass. The system includes the new multi-position add-a-source (AS) technique that uses a small {sup 252}Cf source to determine the drum`s matrix perturbation to the plutonium assay. The {sup 252}Cf source is measured at three positions on the exterior of the drum to obtain the spatial distribution for the matrix correction. This manual gives the performance and calibration parameters. The matrix corrections by the AS technique are accurate to a few percent for typical applications

FUGM hardware operation manual

This manual describes the detector design features, performance, and operating characteristics of the Fugen reactor gate monitor for monitoring fresh and spent fuel transfers between the core and storage ponds. This system consists of two monitors located at each end of the transfer chute. The larger monitor contains two {sup 3}He tubes, two fission chambers, and two ion chambers. The smaller monitor, used for direction of motion redundancy, contains two ion chambers. All detectors provide information for identifying the type, fresh or spent UOX or MOX fuel, and direction of the fuel transfer. The gamma-ray and neutron detector (GRAND-3) electronics package supplies power to the radiation sensors and collects the radiation data for storage on a laptop computer. The system is designed to operate unattended with data collection by the inspectors occurring on 90-day time intervals. This manual also includes radiation data for the six types of fuel transfers and equipment transfers along with the direction of motion information collected during the installation at the Fugen reactor

Design of a new portable fork detector for research reactor spent fuel

There are many situations in nonproliferation and international safeguards when one needs to verify spent research-reactor fuel. Special inspections, a reactor coming under safeguards for the first time, and failed surveillance are prime examples. Several years ago, Los Alamos developed the FORK detector for the IAEA and EURATOM. This detector, together with the GRAND electronics package, is used routinely by inspectors to verify light-water-reactor spent fuels. Both the FORK detector and the GRAND electronics technologies have been transferred and are now commercially available. Recent incidents in the world indicate that research-reactor fuel is potentially a greater concern for proliferation than light-water-reactor fuels. A device similar to the FORK/GRAND should be developed to verify research-reactor spent fuels because the signals from light-water-reactor spent fuel are quite different than those from research-reactor fuels

Design and calibration of the AWCC for measuring uranium hexafluoride

An Active Well Coincidence Counter (AWCC) has been modified to measure variable enrichment uranium hexafluoride (UF{sub 6}) in storage bottles. An active assay technique was used to measure the {sup 235}U content because of the small quantity (nominal loading of 2 kg UF{sub 6}) and nonuniform distribution of UF{sub 6} in the storage bottles. A new insert was designed for the AWCC composed of graphite containing four americium-lithium sources. Monte Carlo calculations were used to design the insert and to calibrate the detector. Benchmark measurements and calculations were performed using uranium oxide resulted in assay values that agreed within 2 to 3% of destructive assay values. In addition to UF{sub 6}, the detector was also calibrated for HEU ingots, billets, and alloy scrap using the standard Mode 1 end-plug configuration

The underwater coincidence counter (UWCC) for plutonium measurements in mixed oxide fuels

The use of fresh uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in light-water reactors (LWR) is increasing in Europe and Japan and it is necessary to verify the plutonium content in the fuel for international safeguards purposes. The UWCC is a new instrument that has been designed to operate underwater and nondestructively measure the plutonium in unirradiated MOX fuel assemblies. The UWCC can be quickly configured to measure either boiling-water reactor (BWR) or pressurized-water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies. The plutonium loading per unit length is measured using the UWCC to precisions of less than 1% in a measurement time of 2 to 3 minutes. Initial calibrations of the UWCC were completed on measurements of MOX fuel in Mol, Belgium. The MCNP-REN Monte Carlo simulation code is being benchmarked to the calibration measurements to allow accurate simulations for extended calibrations of the UWCC