Seismically Detecting Nuclear Reactor Operations Using a Power Spectral Density (PSD) Misfit Detector

Abstract

To explore the ability to indirectly detect and attribute various operations conducted at a nuclear reactor using waveform data, we investigated the seismic signals recorded near the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Specifically, we processed seismic data collected from a single seismoacoustic station, WACO, near the HFIR facility, and employed a power spectral density misfit detector to identify signals of interest and associate the detections with operational events. Initial results suggest that this method provides a promising means of regularly detecting at least 19 unique operations. With additional station deployment and more comprehensive data logs, we anticipate that future analysis will offer an additional means to seismically monitor nuclear reactors (such as HFIR) health and performance more accurately.