Feasibility of neutron coincidence counting for spent TRISO fuel

Ming Fang; Angela Di Fulvio

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110062

Feasibility of neutron coincidence counting for spent TRISO fuel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

High-temperature gas reactors rely on TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel for enhanced fission product retention. Accurate fuel characterization would improve monitoring of efficient fuel usage and accountability. We developed a new neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) based on boron coated straw (BCS) detectors and used it in coincidence mode for ²³⁵U assay in TRISO fuel. In this work, we demonstrate that a high-efficiency version of the NMC encompassing 396 straws is able to estimate the ²³⁵U in used TRISO-fueled pebbles or compacts with a relative uncertainty below 2.5% in 100 s. We performed neutronics and fuel depletion calculation of the HTR-10 pebble bed reactor to estimate the neutron and gamma-ray source strengths of used TRISO-fueled pebbles with burnup between 9 and 90 GWd/t. Then, we measured a gamma-ray intrinsic efficiency of 10⁻¹² at an exposure rate of 340.87 R/h. The low gamma-ray sensitivity and high neutron detection efficiency enable the inspection of used fuel.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	110062
Journal	Annals of Nuclear Energy
Volume	193
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110062
State	Published - Dec 1 2023

Keywords

Boron coated straw
HTR-10
Neutron coincidence counting
Neutron multiplicity counter
PBR
TRISO

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nuclear Energy and Engineering

Online availability

10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110062

Library availability

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title = "Feasibility of neutron coincidence counting for spent TRISO fuel",

abstract = "High-temperature gas reactors rely on TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel for enhanced fission product retention. Accurate fuel characterization would improve monitoring of efficient fuel usage and accountability. We developed a new neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) based on boron coated straw (BCS) detectors and used it in coincidence mode for 235U assay in TRISO fuel. In this work, we demonstrate that a high-efficiency version of the NMC encompassing 396 straws is able to estimate the 235U in used TRISO-fueled pebbles or compacts with a relative uncertainty below 2.5% in 100 s. We performed neutronics and fuel depletion calculation of the HTR-10 pebble bed reactor to estimate the neutron and gamma-ray source strengths of used TRISO-fueled pebbles with burnup between 9 and 90 GWd/t. Then, we measured a gamma-ray intrinsic efficiency of 10−12 at an exposure rate of 340.87 R/h. The low gamma-ray sensitivity and high neutron detection efficiency enable the inspection of used fuel.",

keywords = "Boron coated straw, HTR-10, Neutron coincidence counting, Neutron multiplicity counter, PBR, TRISO",

author = "Ming Fang and {Di Fulvio}, Angela",

note = "This work was funded in part by STTR-DOE grant DE-SC0020733 . We would like to thank Dr. Joe Love and Carle Foundation Hospital for the assistance in the measurement of 192 Ir source.",

year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1016/j.anucene.2023.110062",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Feasibility of neutron coincidence counting for spent TRISO fuel

AU - Fang, Ming

AU - Di Fulvio, Angela

N1 - This work was funded in part by STTR-DOE grant DE-SC0020733 . We would like to thank Dr. Joe Love and Carle Foundation Hospital for the assistance in the measurement of 192 Ir source.

PY - 2023/12/1

Y1 - 2023/12/1

N2 - High-temperature gas reactors rely on TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel for enhanced fission product retention. Accurate fuel characterization would improve monitoring of efficient fuel usage and accountability. We developed a new neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) based on boron coated straw (BCS) detectors and used it in coincidence mode for 235U assay in TRISO fuel. In this work, we demonstrate that a high-efficiency version of the NMC encompassing 396 straws is able to estimate the 235U in used TRISO-fueled pebbles or compacts with a relative uncertainty below 2.5% in 100 s. We performed neutronics and fuel depletion calculation of the HTR-10 pebble bed reactor to estimate the neutron and gamma-ray source strengths of used TRISO-fueled pebbles with burnup between 9 and 90 GWd/t. Then, we measured a gamma-ray intrinsic efficiency of 10−12 at an exposure rate of 340.87 R/h. The low gamma-ray sensitivity and high neutron detection efficiency enable the inspection of used fuel.

AB - High-temperature gas reactors rely on TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel for enhanced fission product retention. Accurate fuel characterization would improve monitoring of efficient fuel usage and accountability. We developed a new neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) based on boron coated straw (BCS) detectors and used it in coincidence mode for 235U assay in TRISO fuel. In this work, we demonstrate that a high-efficiency version of the NMC encompassing 396 straws is able to estimate the 235U in used TRISO-fueled pebbles or compacts with a relative uncertainty below 2.5% in 100 s. We performed neutronics and fuel depletion calculation of the HTR-10 pebble bed reactor to estimate the neutron and gamma-ray source strengths of used TRISO-fueled pebbles with burnup between 9 and 90 GWd/t. Then, we measured a gamma-ray intrinsic efficiency of 10−12 at an exposure rate of 340.87 R/h. The low gamma-ray sensitivity and high neutron detection efficiency enable the inspection of used fuel.

KW - Boron coated straw

KW - HTR-10

KW - Neutron coincidence counting

KW - Neutron multiplicity counter

KW - PBR

KW - TRISO

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Feasibility of neutron coincidence counting for spent TRISO fuel

Abstract

Keywords

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