NDLI: Traceable determination of the absolute neutron emission yields of UO2F2 working reference materials

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	LaFleur, A.M. Croft, S. Mayer, R.L. Swinhoe, M.T. Mayo, D.R. Sapp, B.A.
Copyright Year	2013
Description	Author affiliation: Los Alamos Nat. Lab., Los Alamos, NM, USA (LaFleur, A.M.; Swinhoe, M.T.; Mayo, D.R.; Sapp, B.A.) \|\| DOE Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, Piketon, OH, USA (Mayer, R.L.) \|\| Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Oak Ridge, TN, USA (Croft, S.)
Abstract	The nuclear material contained in the process equipment of a uranium enrichment plant (referred to as holdup) is an important component of the overall nuclear material inventory for the plant. Accurate quantification and verification of holdup is needed to improve international safeguards and nuclear material accountancy. This is also needed for criticality safety and waste disposition. Passive neutron and gamma-ray nondestructive assay (NDA) methods are used to measure the holdup in process equipment. A key advantage of neutron measurements is that neutrons are highly penetrating and can be measured through thick walled equipment. The dominant source of neutrons in the $UO_{2}F_{2}$ holdup is from the $^{19}F(α,n)^{22}Na$ reaction resulting from $^{234}U$ alpha decay when uranium is enriched. There is a considerable spread between different historic determinations of the $^{19}F(α,n)$ yield from uranium which limits the accuracy of modeling and the calibration of NDA instruments. Furthermore, the compound form and presence of water also significantly affects the neutron emission rate from the holdup. This paper describes a series of experimental measurements performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to determine the absolute neutron emission yield from 10 different $UO_{2}F_{2}$ working reference materials (WRMs) fabricated at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). The Mini Epithermal Neutron Multiplicity Counter (Mini ENMC) and a NIST certified $^{252}Cf$ neutron source were used for these measurements. The high efficiency and short die-away time of the Mini ENMC provides the high measurement precision needed to certify the neutron emission yield. The experiment was designed to achieve sub 1% accuracy in the net counting rate on each item and to provide assurance that important factors such as instrument stability, item placement and background were well understood. The traceable neutron yields measured from the WRMs were used to determine a more accurate neutron yield for the $UO_{2}F_{2}$ material. The results were compared to historical neutron emission rates. The F(α,n) data obtained from these measurements directly supports nuclear safeguards for NDA of uranium holdup and provides a more accurate calibration for new and existing NDA detector systems.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	8
File Size	772492
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
e-ISBN	9781479910472
DOI	10.1109/ANIMMA.2013.6727926
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2013-06-23
Publisher Place	France
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Holdup Uncertainty Nuclear safeguards Measurement uncertainty Laboratories Sea measurements Materials Neutrons Cavity resonators Uranium enrichment Nondestructive assay
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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