Effect of Detector Resolution on the Measurement of Nuclear Material Enrichment

Authors

  • M. Darweesh Safeguards & Physical Protection Department, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, P.O.Box 7551, Nasr City, 11762 Cairo, Egypt
  • S. Shawky Safeguards & Physical Protection Department, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, P.O.Box 7551, Nasr City, 11762 Cairo, Egypt
  • Z. Ahmed Safeguards & Physical Protection Department, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, P.O.Box 7551, Nasr City, 11762 Cairo, Egypt

Keywords:

Nuclear Safeguards, MGAU, PC/FRAM, U235, Uranium Enrichment.

Abstract

Nuclear material verification for safeguards purposes is an activity carried out to confirm that the amount of nuclear material (NM) present at a given time within a certain place is in agreement with the operator declarations. Nuclear materials are usually measured using gamma-ray spectrometer in order to quantify certain isotopes. Different codes have been used to quantify the isotopic abundance in nuclear material samples.  This study is investigating the performance of the Multi Group Analysis (MGA), the Multi Group Analysis for Uranium (MGAU) and the Full Range Analysis (PC/FRAM) at different energy resolution of the counting systems and different uranium isotopic compositions. The normalized measured/certified values (M/C) were used to monitor the performance of each code.  The performance of the three codes showed proportional relation to measured enrichments. PC/FRAM analysis provided the best consistency along the studied resolution and enrichment ranges with normalized measured/certified values ranging from 0 to 7%. MGAU and MGA showed more sensitivity towards low resolution detectors especially at lower enrichments with normalized measured/certified values ranged from 0 to 30 % and 0 to 20 % respectively.

References

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Published

2017-05-13

How to Cite

Darweesh, M., Shawky, S., & Ahmed, Z. (2017). Effect of Detector Resolution on the Measurement of Nuclear Material Enrichment. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 31(1), 201–206. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/2949

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Articles

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