Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator

Andrew J. Parker; Manuel Bandala; Stephen Croft; Laurie Crouch; R. David Dunphy; Daniel Hutchinson; Roy Logsdon; Xiandong Ma; Stephen Marshall; Paul Murray; Ali Sarfraz; P. Stirzaker; C. James Taylor; Jaime Zabalza; Malcolm J. Joyce

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator

Andrew J. Parker^*, Manuel Bandala, Stephen Croft, Laurie Crouch, R. David Dunphy, Daniel Hutchinson, Roy Logsdon, Xiandong Ma, Stephen Marshall, Paul Murray, Ali Sarfraz, P. Stirzaker, C. James Taylor, Jaime Zabalza, Malcolm J. Joyce

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The performance of a europium-doped strontium iodide scintillator for uranium enrichment measurement of a variety of sintered uranium dioxide fuel pellets is described and compared to that of caesium iodide and sodium iodide. Enrichment has been determined via passive γ-ray spectrometry of the 186 keV line from uranium-235 using gross count, net count, and peak ratio analyses. The 38 mm Ø x 38 mm strontium iodide crystal demonstrates superior energy resolution (3.43 ± 0.03% at 662 keV) and competitive detection efficiency for its size in the energy range of interest for uranium enrichment analysis (<250 keV). It demonstrates better χ _v ² and coefficient of determination values than caesium iodide and sodium iodide when measuring uranium enrichment using the gross- and net-count from the 186 keV emission. It is shown to have the least measurement variance of the three scintillators studied in determining the uranium enrichment of pellets in a blind test, with a relative error comparative to sodium iodide and smaller than caesium iodide. This research heralds the potential of strontium iodide in passive γ-ray uranium enrichment applications.

Original language	English
Article number	169191
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	1062
Early online date	23 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191
Publication status	Published - 31 May 2024

Funding

This work was funded through a Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom grant EP/V051059. We would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the reviewers in improving the paper.

Keywords

enrichment meter principle
passive γ-ray analysis
strontium iodide
infinite thickness

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191Licence: CC BY 4.0

Parker-etal-NIMPRA-2024-Enrichment-measurement-by-passive-y-ray-spectrometryFinal published version, 4.19 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Autonomous Inspection for Responsive and Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Manufacture (Responsive Manufacturing) (AIRS-NFM)
Murray, P. (Principal Investigator), Marshall, S. (Co-investigator) & Zabalza, J. (Co-investigator)
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/09/21 → 5/10/25
Project: Research

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Parker, A. J., Bandala, M., Croft, S., Crouch, L., Dunphy, R. D., Hutchinson, D., Logsdon, R., Ma, X., Marshall, S., Murray, P., Sarfraz, A., Stirzaker, P., Taylor, C. J., Zabalza, J., & Joyce, M. J. (2024). Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1062, Article 169191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

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title = "Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator",

abstract = "The performance of a europium-doped strontium iodide scintillator for uranium enrichment measurement of a variety of sintered uranium dioxide fuel pellets is described and compared to that of caesium iodide and sodium iodide. Enrichment has been determined via passive γ-ray spectrometry of the 186 keV line from uranium-235 using gross count, net count, and peak ratio analyses. The 38 mm {\O} x 38 mm strontium iodide crystal demonstrates superior energy resolution (3.43 ± 0.03% at 662 keV) and competitive detection efficiency for its size in the energy range of interest for uranium enrichment analysis (<250 keV). It demonstrates better χ v 2 and coefficient of determination values than caesium iodide and sodium iodide when measuring uranium enrichment using the gross- and net-count from the 186 keV emission. It is shown to have the least measurement variance of the three scintillators studied in determining the uranium enrichment of pellets in a blind test, with a relative error comparative to sodium iodide and smaller than caesium iodide. This research heralds the potential of strontium iodide in passive γ-ray uranium enrichment applications.",

keywords = "enrichment meter principle, passive γ-ray analysis, strontium iodide, infinite thickness",

author = "Parker, {Andrew J.} and Manuel Bandala and Stephen Croft and Laurie Crouch and Dunphy, {R. David} and Daniel Hutchinson and Roy Logsdon and Xiandong Ma and Stephen Marshall and Paul Murray and Ali Sarfraz and P. Stirzaker and Taylor, {C. James} and Jaime Zabalza and Joyce, {Malcolm J.}",

year = "2024",

month = may,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191",

language = "English",

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journal = "Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment",

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Parker, AJ, Bandala, M, Croft, S, Crouch, L, Dunphy, RD, Hutchinson, D, Logsdon, R, Ma, X, Marshall, S , Murray, P, Sarfraz, A, Stirzaker, P, Taylor, CJ, Zabalza, J & Joyce, MJ 2024, 'Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 1062, 169191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator. / Parker, Andrew J.; Bandala, Manuel; Croft, Stephen et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 1062, 169191, 31.05.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator

AU - Parker, Andrew J.

AU - Bandala, Manuel

AU - Croft, Stephen

AU - Crouch, Laurie

AU - Dunphy, R. David

AU - Hutchinson, Daniel

AU - Logsdon, Roy

AU - Ma, Xiandong

AU - Marshall, Stephen

AU - Murray, Paul

AU - Sarfraz, Ali

AU - Stirzaker, P.

AU - Taylor, C. James

AU - Zabalza, Jaime

AU - Joyce, Malcolm J.

PY - 2024/5/31

Y1 - 2024/5/31

N2 - The performance of a europium-doped strontium iodide scintillator for uranium enrichment measurement of a variety of sintered uranium dioxide fuel pellets is described and compared to that of caesium iodide and sodium iodide. Enrichment has been determined via passive γ-ray spectrometry of the 186 keV line from uranium-235 using gross count, net count, and peak ratio analyses. The 38 mm Ø x 38 mm strontium iodide crystal demonstrates superior energy resolution (3.43 ± 0.03% at 662 keV) and competitive detection efficiency for its size in the energy range of interest for uranium enrichment analysis (<250 keV). It demonstrates better χ v 2 and coefficient of determination values than caesium iodide and sodium iodide when measuring uranium enrichment using the gross- and net-count from the 186 keV emission. It is shown to have the least measurement variance of the three scintillators studied in determining the uranium enrichment of pellets in a blind test, with a relative error comparative to sodium iodide and smaller than caesium iodide. This research heralds the potential of strontium iodide in passive γ-ray uranium enrichment applications.

AB - The performance of a europium-doped strontium iodide scintillator for uranium enrichment measurement of a variety of sintered uranium dioxide fuel pellets is described and compared to that of caesium iodide and sodium iodide. Enrichment has been determined via passive γ-ray spectrometry of the 186 keV line from uranium-235 using gross count, net count, and peak ratio analyses. The 38 mm Ø x 38 mm strontium iodide crystal demonstrates superior energy resolution (3.43 ± 0.03% at 662 keV) and competitive detection efficiency for its size in the energy range of interest for uranium enrichment analysis (<250 keV). It demonstrates better χ v 2 and coefficient of determination values than caesium iodide and sodium iodide when measuring uranium enrichment using the gross- and net-count from the 186 keV emission. It is shown to have the least measurement variance of the three scintillators studied in determining the uranium enrichment of pellets in a blind test, with a relative error comparative to sodium iodide and smaller than caesium iodide. This research heralds the potential of strontium iodide in passive γ-ray uranium enrichment applications.

KW - enrichment meter principle

KW - passive γ-ray analysis

KW - strontium iodide

KW - infinite thickness

U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

M3 - Article

SN - 0168-9002

VL - 1062

JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

M1 - 169191

ER -

Parker AJ, Bandala M, Croft S, Crouch L, Dunphy RD, Hutchinson D et al. Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2024 May 31;1062:169191. Epub 2024 Feb 23. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2024.169191

Enrichment measurement by passive γ-ray spectrometry of uranium dioxide fuel pellets using a europium-doped, strontium iodide scintillator

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Autonomous Inspection for Responsive and Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Manufacture (Responsive Manufacturing) (AIRS-NFM)

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