TY - JOUR
T1 - An absolute measurement of the neutron production rate of a spent nuclear fuel sample used for depletion code validation
AU - Schillebeeckx, Peter
AU - Verwerft, Marc
AU - Romojaro, Pablo
AU - Zerovnik, Gasper
AU - Messaoudi, Nadia
AU - Alaerts, Gery
AU - Fiorito, Luca
AU - Govers, Kevin
AU - Paepen, Jan
AU - Parthoens, Yves
AU - Pedersen, Bent
AU - Stankovskiy, Alexey
AU - Van den Eynde, Gert
AU - Wynants, Ruud
N1 - Score=10
Funding Information:
The present work was partly funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 847593 (project EURAD, Work Package 8) and the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 847552 (SANDA).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Schillebeeckx, Verwerft, Romojaro, Žerovnik, Messaoudi, Alaerts, Fiorito, Govers, Paepen, Parthoens, Pedersen, Stankovskiy, Van den Eynde and Wynants.
PY - 2023/4/24
Y1 - 2023/4/24
N2 - A method to determine the neutron production rate of a spent nuclear fuel segment sample by means of non-destructive assay conducted under standard controlled-area conditions is described and demonstrated. A neutron well counter designed for routine nuclear safeguards applications is applied. The method relies on a transfer procedure that is adapted to the hot cell facilities at the Laboratory for High and Medium level Activity of SCK CEN in Belgium. Experiments with 252Cf(sf) sources, certified for their neutron emission rate, were carried out at the Joint Research Centre to determine the characteristics of the detection device. Measurements of a segment of a spent nuclear fuel rod were carried out at SCK CEN resulting in an absolute and non-destructive measurement of the neutron production rate avoiding any reference to a representative spent nuclear fuel sample to calibrate the device. Results of these measurements were used to study the performance of depletion codes, i.e., ALEPH2, SCALE, and Serpent2. The study includes a code-to-code and code-to-experiment comparison using different nuclear data libraries.
AB - A method to determine the neutron production rate of a spent nuclear fuel segment sample by means of non-destructive assay conducted under standard controlled-area conditions is described and demonstrated. A neutron well counter designed for routine nuclear safeguards applications is applied. The method relies on a transfer procedure that is adapted to the hot cell facilities at the Laboratory for High and Medium level Activity of SCK CEN in Belgium. Experiments with 252Cf(sf) sources, certified for their neutron emission rate, were carried out at the Joint Research Centre to determine the characteristics of the detection device. Measurements of a segment of a spent nuclear fuel rod were carried out at SCK CEN resulting in an absolute and non-destructive measurement of the neutron production rate avoiding any reference to a representative spent nuclear fuel sample to calibrate the device. Results of these measurements were used to study the performance of depletion codes, i.e., ALEPH2, SCALE, and Serpent2. The study includes a code-to-code and code-to-experiment comparison using different nuclear data libraries.
KW - Neutron emission
KW - Neutron correlation counting
KW - Spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
KW - Depletion calculation
KW - Spontaneous fission
KW - depletion calculation
KW - spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
KW - spontaneous fission
KW - neutron emission
KW - neutron correlation counting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159776667&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fenrg.2023.1162367
DO - 10.3389/fenrg.2023.1162367
M3 - Article
SN - 2095-1701
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Energy Research
JF - Frontiers in Energy Research
M1 - 1162367
ER -