Passive Neutron Albedo Reactivity in an Integrated NDA System for Encapsulation Safeguards

Year
2018
Author(s)
Tapani Honkamaa - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland
Camille Bélanger-Champagne - Helsinki Institute of Physics
Peter Dendooven - Helsinki Institute of Physics
Stephen J. Tobin - Encapsulation NDA Services
Mikael Moring - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland
Abstract
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued the “Application of Safeguards to Geological Repositories (ASTOR) Report on Technologies Potentially Useful for Safeguarding Geological Repositories.” In this IAEA report, a group of nuclear safeguards experts made recommendations on various aspects of encapsulation facility and repository safeguards. Six recommendations from the ASTOR experts describe requirements for nondestructive assays (NDA) of spent fuel. To satisfy these recommendations, a team working under the direction of the Finnish Radiation and Safety Authority combined the capability of a Passive Gamma Emission Tomography (PGET) instrument with a Passive Neutron Albedo Reactivity (PNAR) instrument. This publication describes how this integrated NDA system satisfies all the recommendations of the ASTOR experts in the context of the Finnish encapsulation needs. Furthermore, this paper describes the mechanical design and measurement performance expected for a PNAR prototype that will measure BWR fuel in Finland in 2018.