Title :
Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence for Materials Assay
Author :
Quiter, Brian J. ; Ludewigt, Bernhard A. ; Mozin, Vladimir V. ; Prussin, Stanley G.
Author_Institution :
Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab., Berkeley, CA, USA
fDate :
4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
This paper discusses the use of nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) techniques for the isotopic and quantitative assaying of radioactive material. Potential applications include age-dating of an unknown radioactive source, pre- and post-detonation nuclear forensics and safeguards for nuclear fuel cycles Examples of age-dating a strong radioactive source and assaying a spent fuel pin are discussed. The modeling work has ben performed with the Monte Carlo radiation transport computer code MCNPX and the capability to simulate NRF has bee added to the code. Discussed are the limitations in MCNPX´s photon transport physics for accurately describing photon scattering processes that are important contributions to the background and impact the applicability of the NRF assay technique.
Keywords :
Monte Carlo methods; fluorescence; nuclear fuel cycle facilities; nuclear materials safeguards; nuclear resonance scattering; radioactive sources; Monte Carlo radiation transport; age-dating; computer code MCNPX; isotopic assaying; material assay; nuclear fuel cycles; nuclear resonance fluorescence; nuclear safeguards; photon scattering processes; photon transport physics; post-detonation nuclear forensics; pre-detonation nuclear forensics; quantitative assaying; radioactive material; radioactive source; spent fuel pin; Converters; Detectors; Fuels; Materials; Photonics; Scattering; Tungsten; MCNPX; non-destructive analysis; nuclear resonance fluorescence; nuclear safeguards;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TNS.2011.2112777
