Year
1997
Abstract
While well-developed methodologies exist for the employment of high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry (HRGS) in determining the isotopic composition of plutonium samples, the potential capabilities of such measurements in determining the properties of nuclear materials otherwise remain largely unexploited. These measurements contain information sufficiently detailed such that not only can the isotopic composition of uranium and plutonium materials be determined, but the details of the spectrum obtained will depend reproducibly upon other factors including the total mass, density, chemical composition, and geometrical configuration of the material, and for certain materials, the elapsed time since chemical processing. The potential thus exists to obtain a \"gamma-ray fingerprint\" for typical containers or assemblies of nuclear material which will then serve to identify that class of item in a later confirmatory measurement. These measurements have the additional advantage that, by comparison with active interrogation techniques which usually require the introduction of some extraneous form of radiation or other intrusive activity, they are totally passive, and thus impose only minimal additional safety or regulatory burdens on the operators. In the application of these measurements to the verification of treatylimited items, where the information acquired may be sensitive in nature, the use of the CIVET (Controlled Intrusiveness Verification Technique) approach, where a computer-based interface is employed to limit access to the information obtained, may be followed.