TRIGA fuel enrichment verification based on the measurement of short-lived fission products

A method is developed to verify the 235U content of TRIGA fresh fuel using gamma-ray spectrometry of the short-lived fission products 97Zr/97Nb, 132I and 140La. The short-lived fission-product activities can be established by irradiating the fuel in a nuclear reactor. Based on the measured activities, the 235U content can be deduced by iterative calculations. The aim of this work is to establish a calibration method for estimating the burnup values of the rod-type spent fuels without the need for detailed data on fuel irradiation history.