Speaker
Description
Thermalhydraulic power analysis is one of the most important considered metrics when operating a nuclear reactor. Not only does it establish smooth control of operations within a nuclear reactor, but can act as a safeguard – a preventative method to ensure peaceful, nonproliferated nuclear reactor operation.
Standoff radiation detection refers to the technique of continuous analysis of background radiation within a nuclear reactor, which may serve as a “double-check” to conventional thermalhydraulic power measurements obtained by thermocouples. To determine if standoff radiation detection serves as a proper safeguarding technique, an experimental standoff analysis of two types of radioactive decay were explored at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. Both thermal neutron decay and nitrogen-16 gamma decay were measured by helium-3 proportional counters and a sodium iodide crystal scintillator respectively. The presence of thermal neutrons is indicative of in-core flux, while the presence of nitrogen-16 gammas are indicative of fast neutrons within the coolant. Both decays are characteristic of nuclear reactor operation, expectedly resulting in a linear correlation to thermalhydraulic power. To develop such a safeguard, both experimental measurements and theoretical confirmations were considered against actual thermalhydraulic power measurements of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor over a sixteen-month period. Disruptions in operation such as open beamports, abrupt shutdowns, refueling cycles, and poisons introduced challenges when analyzing experimental data. However, these effects were important to be accounted for in the development of a safeguard for the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, but may also be extended to other reactor designs.
The results stemming from the analysis aid in supporting prior work in the field, proving standoff radiation detection as a realistic technique for nuclear reactor safeguarding.
| Keyword-1 | Radiation Detection |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Safeguards |
| Keyword-3 | Reactor Physics |