TY - GEN
T1 - Simulation of Charge Collection in a Boron-coated Straw Detector for Emerging Fuel Cycles
AU - Fang, Ming
AU - Di Fulvio, Angela
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel is currently one of the most mature fuel types for candidate advanced reactor types, namely pebble bed reactors (PBRs). In PBRs, TRISO- fueled pebbles can be re-introduced into the core several times before reaching their target bumup. Non-destructive techniques capable of assaying235U mass in the pebble are therefore needed for nuclear material control and accountability during fuel recirculation. In this work, we have developed a new boron- coated straw (BCS) based neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) to estimate236U mass in each pebble. BCS detectors are chosen for their inherent high insensitivity to gamma rays that will enable their use to assay also irradiated pebbles and high neutron detection efficiency, comparable to3He detectors. The BCS- based NMC that we have designed was built by Proportional Technologies, Inc. (PTI) Houston, TX. In this work, we report the system-level simulation of the BCS-based NMC and the straw- level charge collection simulation coupled with a custom software to tally the detected pulse integral from the list mode energy deposited. We have developed a high-fidelity model of the NMC to simulate the response of a single straw detector to a262Cf source. The simulated die-away time, single neutron count rate, and double neutron count rate agree well with measured values, with a relative difference within ±0.4%. The simulated charge spectrum agrees well with the measured one in the case of a round straw. We plan to use the NMC to perform active and passive interrogation of fresh and spent fuel pebbles.
AB - Tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel is currently one of the most mature fuel types for candidate advanced reactor types, namely pebble bed reactors (PBRs). In PBRs, TRISO- fueled pebbles can be re-introduced into the core several times before reaching their target bumup. Non-destructive techniques capable of assaying235U mass in the pebble are therefore needed for nuclear material control and accountability during fuel recirculation. In this work, we have developed a new boron- coated straw (BCS) based neutron multiplicity counter (NMC) to estimate236U mass in each pebble. BCS detectors are chosen for their inherent high insensitivity to gamma rays that will enable their use to assay also irradiated pebbles and high neutron detection efficiency, comparable to3He detectors. The BCS- based NMC that we have designed was built by Proportional Technologies, Inc. (PTI) Houston, TX. In this work, we report the system-level simulation of the BCS-based NMC and the straw- level charge collection simulation coupled with a custom software to tally the detected pulse integral from the list mode energy deposited. We have developed a high-fidelity model of the NMC to simulate the response of a single straw detector to a262Cf source. The simulated die-away time, single neutron count rate, and double neutron count rate agree well with measured values, with a relative difference within ±0.4%. The simulated charge spectrum agrees well with the measured one in the case of a round straw. We plan to use the NMC to perform active and passive interrogation of fresh and spent fuel pebbles.
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U2 - 10.1109/NSS/MIC44845.2022.10399189
DO - 10.1109/NSS/MIC44845.2022.10399189
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85185376269
T3 - 2022 IEEE NSS/MIC RTSD - IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference and Room Temperature Semiconductor Detector Conference
BT - 2022 IEEE NSS/MIC RTSD - IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference and Room Temperature Semiconductor Detector Conference
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2022 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference, and Room Temperature Semiconductor Detector Conference, IEEE NSS MIC RTSD 2022
Y2 - 5 November 2022 through 12 November 2022
ER -