Title :
Measurement of the plutonium hold-up in a melting furnace at CEA Bruyeres-Le-Chatel
Author :
Oddou, R. ; Chevillon, J. ; Schoech, H. ; Vincent, M.
Author_Institution :
DIF, French Commissariat a l´´Energie Atomique, Arpajon, France
Abstract :
The Bruyeres-Le-Chatel research center is going through a period of dismantling and clean-up. Some equipment cannot be moved and are dismantled in situ. We need to evaluate the quantity of fissile materials to prevent criticality risk and to manage waste production. A melting furnace was dismantled. Measurements by gamma spectrometry (with an HPGe detector) and passive neutron counting (coincidence counting with shift register) are done in situ (furnace in the gloves box) and the 100-L and 200-L drums produced during the dismantling were also measured. Based on simplified assumptions to analyze in situ measurements, plutonium weight could be evaluated. The results show good agreement between in situ and waste measurements.
Keywords :
nuclear criticality safety; nuclear facility decommissioning; nuclear materials safeguards; plutonium; radioactive waste processing; CEA Bruyeres-Le-Chatel; HPGe detector); clean up; coincidence counting; criticality risk; dismantling; fissile material; gamma spectrometry; melting furnace; passive neutron counting; plutonium hold up; waste production management; Furnaces; Gamma ray detection; Gamma ray detectors; Neutrons; Production; Risk management; Shift registers; Spectroscopy; Waste management; Waste materials; gamma ray spectrometry; hold-up; in situ; neutrons; nuclear measurements; plutonium;
Conference_Titel :
Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications (ANIMMA), 2009 First International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Marseille
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5207-1
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5208-8
DOI :
10.1109/ANIMMA.2009.5503775
