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Direct measurement of U-235 in spent fuel rods with Gamma-ray mirrors

Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Publication Date
Page Numbers
15 to 19
Volume
777

Direct measurement of plutonium and uranium X-rays and gamma-rays is a highly desirable nondestructive analysis method for the use in reprocessing fuel environments. The high background and intense radiation from spent fuel make direct measurements difficult to implement since the relatively low activity of uranium and plutonium is masked by the high activity from fission products. To overcome this problem, we make use of a grazing incidence optic to selectively reflect K-alpha and K-beta fluorescence of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) into a high-purity position-sensitive germanium detector and obtain their relative ratios. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.