Active-Interrogation Measurements of Induced-Fission Neutrons from Low- Enriched Uranium

Year
2012
Author(s)
M. Flaska - University of Michigan
S.A. Pozzi - University of Michigan
J. Dolan - University of Michigan
P. Peerani - Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
M. J. Marcath - University of Michigan
D. L. Chichester - Idaho National Laboratory
A. Tomanin - Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Abstract
Protection and control of nuclear fuels is paramount for nuclear security and safeguards; therefore, it is important to develop fast and robust controlling mechanisms to ensure the safety of nuclear fuels. Through both passive- and active-interrogation methods we can use fast-neutron detection to perform real-time measurements of fission neutrons for process monitoring. Active interrogation allows us to use different ranges of incident neutron energy to probe for different isotopes of uranium. With fast-neutron detectors, such as organic liquid scintillation detectors, we can detect the induced-fission neutrons and photons and work towards quantifying a sample’s mass and enrichment.