Experimental Method for Verification of Calculated 137Cs Content in Nuclear Fuel Assemblies. (1st February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bengtsson, Martin; Jansson, Peter; Bäckström, Ulrika; Johansson, Fredrik; Sjöland, Anders
• Is Part Of: Nuclear technology. Volume 208:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 295
• Page End: 302
• Publication Date: 2022-02-01
• Subjects: Nuclear fuel -- cesium-137 -- activity, characterization; Nuclear engineering -- Periodicals; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear Physics; Periodicals; Periodicals; 621.48
• DOI: 10.1080/00295450.2021.1880851
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1943-7471

Abstract

Abstract: A method to determine the absolute activity of 137 Cs in irradiated nuclear fuel is presented. Using a well-known point-like calibration source in combination with measurements of the gamma-ray intensity from the nuclear fuel and Monte Carlo calculations based on the nominal measurement geometry, the activity content can be determined without prior knowledge of the intrinsic detection efficiency of the gamma-ray detector. The presented method is tested using measurements of the 137 Cs intensity from spent nuclear fuel of the pressurized water type at the central interim storage in Sweden. Using an assumption of homogeneous distribution of 137 Cs throughout the fuel, we demonstrate a linear relationship between measured activity and the activity calculated by a state-of-the-art simulation code. For future studies, we suggest some factors that potentially can decrease the uncertainty in the correlation between measured and calculated activity.