Problem Statement
Safeguards inspectors need a robust and diverse toolkit to determine key safeguards measures for spent nuclear fuel including the detection of diverted or replaced fuel pins, quantification of plutonium mass, and verification of initial enrichment, cooling time, and burnup.
Technical Approach
Based on the fuel and reactor data available, spent fuel inventories are calculated using SCALE. The resulting source terms and emissions are then used to develop correlations and compare with neutron and gamma signatures measured at the reactor sites.
Benefit
Combining the experience and expertise of analysts in fuel, reactor modeling, and safeguards with highly validated and robust radiation transport simulations ensures that accurate signatures are generated and able to be compared with measurements taken by the safeguards inspectors.
Sponsor
Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA, NA-24)
Principal Investigator
Paul Cantonwine