Instrument for Determining the Transuranic Element Content of Chopped Leached Fuel Hulls and Other Materials

摘要

An instrument has been designed, constructed, and evaluated for the identification and quantitative determination of transuranic elements by detection of neutrons emitted from their ( alpha , n) and spontaneous fission reactions. Although optimized for batch evaluation of chopped leached nuclear fuel cladding hulls, the principle can be adapted to continuous feed operations. Unique electronic circuitry permits the sorting of neutron emissions depending on their origin which can be directly related to the isotopic composition of very small amounts of transuranic activities present in extreme gamma radiation fields. Efficiencies, sensitivities, and detection limits are discussed. (ERA citation 05:005428)