Year
2012
Abstract
The quantitative measurement of Cerenkov light, generated by spent fuel assemblies in spent fuel ponds, is being studied as a potential method for identifying missing fuel rods and fuel rods substituted with other materials such as stainless steel. The quantitative measurement of Cerenkov light emitted by a spent fuel assembly is influenced by adjacent spent fuel. It is important to determine the impact of this effect on spent fuel measurements and if possible to correct the measurements for this effect. Understanding this effect will create an understanding of boundary conditions for the intensity of near neighbours. An experiment was performed to measure the effect of placing spent fuel assemblies adjacent to a fresh fuel assembly in a controlled environment. Using the results of this experiment an algorithm has been developed to determine how to correct the Cerenkov light measurements to remove the effect of the near neighbours. This algorithm has been applied to a series of measurements taken in the same fuel pond to determine the impact of this correction.