SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The realization of the process of treatment of organic radioactive waste (RW) containing tributylphosphate (TBP) in hydrocarbon solvent under the laboratory conditions is considered in this work. The main parameters of the process have been investigated as well as the characteristics of the final process product - sodium-aluminium-phosphate glass matrix. (authors)
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Abstract not provided.
Abstract not provided.
Abstract not provided.
Abstract not provided.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Nuclear forensics has a broad task to characterize recovered nuclear or radiological material and interpret the results of investigation. One approach to isotopic characterization of nuclear material obtained from a reactor is to chemically separate and perform isotopic measurements on the sample and verify the results with modeling of the sample history, for example, operation of a nuclear reactor. The major actinide plutonium and fission product cesium are commonly measured signatures of the fuel history in a reactor core. This study investigates the uncertainty of the plutonium and cesium isotope ratios of a fuel rod discharged from a research pressurized water reactor when the location of the sample is not known a priori. A sensitivity analysis showed overpredicted values for the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu ratio toward the axial center of the rod and revealed a lower probability of the rod of interest (ROI) being on the periphery of the assembly. The uncertainty analysis found the relative errors due to only the rod position and boron concentration to be 17% to 36% and 7% to 15% for the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu and 137 Cs/ 135 Cs ratios, respectively. Lastly, this study provides a method for uncertainty quantification of isotope concentrations due to the location of the ROI. Similar analyses can be performed to verify future chemical and isotopic analyses.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The use of a grazing incidence optic to selectively reflect K-shell fluorescence emission and isotope-specific lines from special nuclear materials is a highly desirable nondestructive analysis method for use in reprocessing fuel environments. Preliminary measurements have been performed, and a simulation suite has been developed to give insight into the design of the x ray optics system as a function of the source emission, multilayer coating characteristics, and general experimental configurations. As a result, the experimental results are compared to the predictions from our simulation toolkit to illustrate the ray-tracing capability and explore the effect of modified optics in future measurement campaigns.
During FY 2012, Lead Slowing Down Spectrometer (LSDS) measurement campaigns took place at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At Los Alamos, we measured the response of a thorium fission chamber to a 25 gram plutonium sample, and evaluated the performance of a 4 He-filled proportional counter. At RPI, the effort lead by Professor Danon, performed an assay of fuel pins, and used a fission chamber with plutonium to evaluate the impact of room return.
Executive Summary 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 methods. This document is a progress report for FY2012 PNNL analysis and algorithm development. Progress made by PNNL in FY2012 continues to indicate the promise of LSDS analysis and algorithms applied to used fuel assemblies. PNNL further refined the semi-empirical model developed in FY2011 based on singular value decomposition (SVD) to numerically account for the effects of self-shielding. The average uncertainty in the Pu mass across the NGSI-64 fuel assemblies was shown to be less than 3% using only six calibration assemblies with a 2% uncertainty in the isotopic masses. When calibrated against the six NGSI-64 fuel assemblies, the algorithm was able to determine the total Pu mass within <2% uncertainty for the 27 diversion cases also developed under NGSI. Two purely empirical algorithms were developed that do not require the use of Pu isotopic fission chambers. The semi-empirical and purely empirical algorithms were successfully tested using MCNPX simulations as well applied to experimental data measured by RPI using their LSDS. The algorithms were able to describe the 235U masses of the RPI measurements with an average uncertainty of 2.3%. Analyses were conducted that provided valuable insight with regard to design requirements (e.g. Pb stack size, neutron source location) of an LSDS for the purpose of assaying used fuel assemblies. Sensitivity studies were conducted that provide insight as to how the LSDS instrument can be improved by making it more sensitive to the center of the fuel assemblies. In FY2013, PNNL will continue efforts to develop and refine design requirements of an LSDS for the ultimate purpose of assaying used fuel assemblies. Future efforts will be directed toward more extensive experimental benchmarking of currently implemented time-spectra analysis algorithms.
Abstract not provided.
Evidence of the release Pu from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station to the local environment and surrounding communities and estimates on fraction of total fuel inventory released