Neutronic Analogues for Water Detection Studies in Spent Nuclear Fuel

Green, B. J. and Folley, D. and Parker, A. and Kennedy, A. and Croft, S. and Mills, R. and Joyce, M. (2024) Neutronic Analogues for Water Detection Studies in Spent Nuclear Fuel. In: 2024 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS), Medical Imaging Conference (MIC) and Room Temperature Semiconductor Detector Conference (RTSD) :. IEEE. ISBN 9798350388169

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Abstract

The identification of benign (not radioactive) materials to serve as neutronic analogues for prompt gamma activation analysis specifically relating to the identification of water in spent nuclear fuel is described. Production of 2.223MeVγ rays via the (n,γ) reaction can be indicative of the presence of hydrogen and hence water. Using a simulated 252Cf neutron field, this research compares the neutronic properties of UO2 and capture γ-ray spectra to those of several candidate analogue materials. Of the tested materials, molybdenum yields the closest correlation to UO2 in terms of its neutron transmission and (n,y) reaction rate.