BENT-CRYSTAL SPECTROMETER ANALYZING PLUTONIUM K X-RAYS FOR APPLICATIONS IN NUCLEAR FORENSICS

The ability to quickly quantify the Pu content within spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is essential to nuclear forensics. Analysis of the Pu to U ratio can provide information on fuel which could contribute to the attribution of a fuel sample. Plutonium concentration data can be acquired through non-destructive analysis (NDA) by detecting self-induced x-ray fluorescence (XRF) from Pu in the fuel. However, during conventional spectroscopy, the characteristic Pu x-ray peak of interest lies beneath background and requires an extended exposure time. Bent-crystal spectrometers allow x-rays of selected energies, obeying Bragg’s law for coherent scattering of incident photons, to be focused directly onto a detector, thus providing a high signal with limited background by decreasing the possible Compton interaction in the detector. Determining a useable crystal and experimental geometry that allowed for the study of high energy x-rays requires additional attention. While previous experiments investigating wavelength dispersive bent crystals have been performed, they were primarily concerned with lower x-ray energies (