Customized Design and Simulated Performance of the ~(252)Cf Interrogation with Prompt Neutron Detector for Spent Fuel Measurement at the Post Irradiation Examination Facility in the Republic of Korea

摘要

The ~(252)Cf Interrogation Prompt Neutron (CIPN) detection is one of several nondestructive assay (NDA)techniques being integrated into systems as part of the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI)Spent Fuel NDA Project. CIPN is a relatively low‐cost and lightweight instrument that resembles a Forkdetector combined with an active interrogation source. CIPN shows promising capability for determiningfissile content and in detecting diversion of fuel rods in spent nuclear fuel assemblies. Previouspublications documented the conceptual design and its response to virtual spent fuel assemblies. Thispublication documents the anticipated performance for the first experimental deployment of CIPN.Several spent fuel assemblies at the Post Irradiation Examination Facility (PIEF) at the Republic of Korea(ROK) will be measured. Prior to the field test, the detector was customized for the ROK fuel andexperimental set‐up. In this publication the expected neutron and gamma (gross gamma detected bythe two newly‐added ion chambers) count rates of CIPN for some of the spent fuel assemblies at thefacility are predicted. The estimated count rates were calculated using MCNPX. These preliminary resultswill help the finalization of the hardware design and also serve as a guide for the experiment. Thehardware of the detector is expected to be fabricated later in 2012 and after that the field test will beperformed. Once the experimental results become available, comparisons between measurements andcalculations can be made and the prediction mechanism can be improved accordingly.