Session E10: Mini-symposium on applications of nuclear physics

Detection of Breeding Blankets Using Antineutrinos

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement between the United States and Russia makes arrangements for the disposal of 34 metric tons of excess weapon-grade plutonium. Under this agreement Russia plans to dispose of its excess stocks by processing the plutonium into fuel for fast breeder reactors. To meet the disposition requirements this fuel would be burned while the fast reactors are run as burners, i.e., without a natural uranium blanket that can be used to breed plutonium surrounding the core. This talk discusses the potential application of antineutrino monitoring to the verification of the presence or absence of a breeding blanket. It is found that a 36 kg antineutrino detector, exploiting coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and made of silicon, could determine the presence of a breeding blanket at a liquid sodium cooled fast reactor at the 95\% confidence level within 90 days. Such a detector would be a novel non-intrusive verification tool and could present a first application of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering to a real-world challenge.   

Multimodal Imaging Using a $^{\mathrm{11}}$B(d,n$\gamma )^{\mathrm{12}}$C Source

Detection of shielded special nuclear material (SNM) still remains one of the greatest challenges facing nuclear security, where small signal-to-background ratios result from complex, challenging configurations of practical objects. Passive detection relies on the spontaneous radioactive decay, whereas active interrogation (AI) uses external probing radiation to identify and characterize the material. AI provides higher signal intensity, providing a more viable method for SNM detection. New and innovative approaches are needed to overcome specific application constraints, such as limited scanning time. We report on a new AI approach that integrates both neutron and gamma transmission signatures to deduce specific material properties that can be utilized to aid SNM identification. The approach uses a single AI source, single detector type imaging system based on the $^{\mathrm{11}}$B(d,n$\gamma )^{\mathrm{12}}$C reaction and an array of eight EJ-309 liquid scintillators, respectively. An integral transmission imaging approach has been employed initially for both neutrons and photons, exploiting the detectors' particle discrimination properties. Representative object images using neutrons and photons will be presented.   

A comparison of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) methods for analysis of a tube-in-shell heat exchanger

A positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) study of a stainless steel tube-in-shell heat exchanger is performed. Studies are performed using two different energy window settings. A new multiple particle tracking technique is introduced and used in this analysis. Results are compared to those obtained with previously established multiple particle tracking technique. Both techniques are found to be capable of flow imaging through opaque surfaces. No significant difference is observed between energy window settings using either method. Results from both methods are found to be qualitatively similar; however, it is observed that the new method exhibits consistently lower measurement uncertainty across the field of view of the scanner and is robust against the adverse effects of stationary particles in the flow field.   

Some geophysical considerations in radioisotope dating applications.

Radioisotope dating only assumes radioactive decay laws are taking place allowing closed form solutions to be obtained in generating a sample date estimate. To be discussed in this work is the isotopic distribution expected in geological samples due to mass diffusion superimposed on that from simple radioactive decay. By taking into consideration the isotope effect (differential mass diffusion rates) when measuring isotopic ratios from very old samples, the distribution dependency will cause a bias if isotopic diffusion rates are not identical throughout a material (or at least across the boundaries of all samples measured). The isotope effect being that isotopes having a smaller atomic mass will diffuse faster in a medium than will their heavier counterparts causing concentration gradients of their ratios even when there are no contributions from radioactive decay which will tend to bias all sample ages (slopes of the isochron) to have a more linear distribution. The application to Sr/Rb dating is evaluated and shown to result in expected age overestimates. Suggested methods to test for this effect along with sample preparation techniques to minimize it are discussed.   

Nuclear Scattering from Transition Metals.

In view of the continued interest in the scattering of light projectiles by metallic nuclei, we present a computational study of the interactions between different nuclear species of atoms such as H through F $\left( {Z\le 9} \right)$ and the nuclei of Silver, Palladium and other metals. Recent work has shown that neutron scattering can be used to record holographic images of materials. We have developed a FORTRAN computer program to compute stopping cross sections and scattering angles in Ag and other metals for the small nuclear projectiles, using Monte Carlo calculation. This code allows for different angles of incidence. Next, simulations were done in the energy interval from 50 to 210 keV. The computational results thus obtained are compared with relevant experimental data. The data are further analyzed to identify periodic trends in terms of the atomic number of the projectile. Such studies also have potential applications in nuclear physics and in nuclear medicine.