Quantification of fissionable materials in pure and mixed form using photofission

摘要

Photofission experiments have been conducted at the industrial 10 MeV LINAC of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, to develop a method for quantification of actinides. A number of natural uranium and thorium samples were fabricated in pure and mixed forms and irradiated for photofission. Delayed neutron and delayed gamma decay data produced after photofission were analyzed by the formation of decay groups, for 10 MeV end point energy. A method for quantification of relative proportions of actinides is developed and it is observed that under constant experimental conditions, even with an industrial accelerator, quantification of actinide in mixed state can be carried out with a reasonable accuracy and with a maximum error in estimation of less than 40%.