Parker, Helen and Joyce, Malcolm and Jones, Ashley Richard (2015) Counting neutrons from the spontaneous fission of 238-U using scintillation detectors and mixed field analysers. In: ANIMMA - Advancements in Nuclear instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications, 2015-04-202015-04-24, Lisbon Congress Centre.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
It is well documented that 238-U decays by spontaneous fission, and that it is the main component of most nuclear fuels. As nuclear fuels are largely classed as Special Nuclear Material (SNM), they have to be fully accounted for by owners and processing facilities. One possible method for verifying declared amounts of SNM is to count the spontaneous neutrons produced from 238-U. Using four EJ-309 liquid scintillation detectors and a mixed field analyser, spontaneous neutrons from 16.4 g of depleted uranium (0.3% enrichment) have been assayed. The assay method shows promising results and this proof of principle will be researched further in order for it to be applied in an industrial setting.