REACTOR PHYSICS MODELING OF SPENT NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR FUEL FOR SNM ATTRIBUTION AND NUCLEAR FORENSICS

Nuclear research reactors are the least safeguarded type of reactor; in some cases this may be attributed to low risk and in most cases it is due to difficulty from dynamic operation. Research reactors vary greatly in size, fuel type, enrichment, power and burnup providing a significant challenge to any standardized safeguard system. If a whole fuel assembly was interdicted, based on geometry and other traditional forensics work, one could identify the material¶V??RULJLQ??IDLUO\\?? accurately. If the material has been dispersed or reprocessed, in-depth reactor physics models may be used to help with the identification. Should there be a need to attribute research reactor fuel material, the Savannah River National Laboratory would perform radiochemical analysis of samples of the material as well as other non-destructive measurements. In depth reactor physics modeling would then be performed to compare to these measured results in an attempt to associate the measured results with various reactor parameters.