Measurement Techniques For Verifying Burnup

Measurements of the nuclear radiation from spent reactor fuel are being considered to qualify assemblies for loading into casks that will be used to transport spent fuel from utility sites to a federal storage facility. To ensure nuclear criticality safety, the casks are being designed to accept assemblies that meet restrictions as to burnup, initial enrichment and cooling time. Measurements could be used to ensure that only fuel assemblies that meet the restrictions are selected for loading. The "Fork" measurement system, designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory and used by the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify burnup and age in international safeguards applications, is being investigated for this application.