Field Tests of the AEFC for the Verification of Research Reactor Spent Fuel at the WWR-SM Reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) Uzbekistan

The advanced experimental fuel counter (AEFC) was developed for the measurement of spent fuel rods and assemblies from research reactors for safeguards verification. This measurement system contains components for active neutron interrogation, passive neutron totals counting, neutron coincidence counting, and gross gamma-ray counting. For measuring the 235U fissile mass, the active neutron component has an AmLi neutron source for neutron interrogation. The AEFC was used for measurements of spent fuel produced from operation of the WWR-SM research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Oct 4-13, 2011. The AEFC field test measured spent fuel enrichment/fissile content and burnup, and was conducted by participants from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Twenty-two fuel assemblies were measured that covered a wide range of initial enrichment, burnup and cooling times. The paper presents the results of the application of the AEFC for spent fuel at the research reactor at INP in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The measurements were the first application of the AEFC to IRT-type research reactor fuel.