Use of Room Temperature Semiconductor Detectors for the Verification of Nuclear Material in International Safeguards Rec
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USE OF ROOM TEMPERATURE SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS FOR THE VERIFICATION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL IN INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS RECENT ADVANCES R. ARLT, D.E. RUNDQUIST 1 D. BOT 2 P. SIFFERT, M. RICHTER63 A. KHUSAINOV74 5 V. IVANOV, A. CHRUNOV, Y. PETUCHOV F. LEVAI, S. DESI M. TARVAINEN I. AHMED 8 'International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria; 2 Bot Engineering, Campbellville, Ont., Canada;
Centre de Recherches Nucleaires, Laboratoire Phase, Strasbourg, France; St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia; Research Institute for Radioisotope Instrument Production, Riga, Latvia; 6 Technical University Budapest, Hungary; Finnish Centre for Radiation and Health Safety, Helsinki, Finland; 'Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, Karachi, Pakistan.
ABSTRACT In the paper the development and usage of radiation detection systems based on room temperature semiconductors are described. The detection systems are intended for use by safeguards inspectors to verify nuclear material. Because of their high intrinsic efficiency, these detectors have advantages compared to classical germanium or Nal detectors. Several measurement tasks which cannot be handled in an optimum manner by using standard detectors have been solved. The main problem in the application of room temperature semiconductor detectors is the limitation in the availability of large detector volumes. INTRODUCTION In nuclear safeguards, the declarations on the amount of nuclear material in facilities must be verified by using destructive or nondestructive assay (NDA) methods. Gamma-ray spectrometry is often used as an NDA method, since the nuclear material itself, with its associated decay and fission products, exhibit unique gamma-ray signatures. Most of the gamma-rays that are measured have gamma-ray energies of less than 1 MeV. The main gamma-ray energies of plutonium and uranium isotopes are located between 100 and 200 keV. Most of the generic instrumentation applications for international safeguards have been addressed, are solved, and require only minor refinements. Current challenges are mainly: 1) a few specific tasks for which we do not have measurement methods; 2) new measurement applications requiring new verification tools; 3) optimizing the utilization of instrumentation for safeguards application. The verification of spent fuel assemblies and rods without moving them from their storage location is one of the difficult tasks of the first group that still requires a solution. New verification schemes where a high level of automation and functionality is needed and the availability of a broad range of flexible portable equipment for occasional but highly important activities drive the requirements of the second group. The use of radiation monitoring equipment which operates unattended in nuclear facilities and the use of small, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 302. ©1993 Materials Research Society
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highly portable detection systems to save transportation and inventory costs belong in the third group. Many of the present instrumental applications
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