Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel

R. David Dunphy; Andrew J. Parker; Manuel Bandala; Stuart Bennet; Colin Boxall; Patrick Chard; Neil Cockbain; David Eaves; Dave Goddard; Xiandong Ma; C. James Taylor; Richard Wilbraham; Jaime Zabalza; Paul Murray; Malcolm J. Joyce

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-89338-w

Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel

R. David Dunphy, Andrew J. Parker^*, Manuel Bandala, Stuart Bennet, Colin Boxall, Patrick Chard, Neil Cockbain, David Eaves, Dave Goddard, Xiandong Ma, C. James Taylor, Richard Wilbraham, Jaime Zabalza, Paul Murray, Malcolm J. Joyce

^*Corresponding author for this work

Electronic And Electrical Engineering

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Abstract

An analysis of sintered uranium dioxide has been conducted using a hyperspectral camera sensitive to short-wave infrared wavelengths in the range 949–2472 nm. Three groups of sintered UO2 nuclear fuel pellets were prepared and analysed, with stable sub-group surrogates introduced at the preparation stage to emulate the presence of fission product elements. Results show a clear, consistent, and reproducible spectral response across the pellet groups for pure UO2. Furthermore, the addition of fission product elements is observed to affect the shortwave infrared response, causing an overall flattening of the spectra. We have shown that this spectral change is correlated significantly with the presence of lanthanides in the fuel matrix. This result could have important potential in post-irradiation examination for quantifying nuclear fuel burn-up and radiotoxicity at discharge, as the hyperspectral imaging setup allows multiple (> 20) samples to be analysed in a single image, captured in under 30 s.

Original language	English
Article number	5434
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89338-w
Publication status	Published - 13 Feb 2025

Funding

Manufacturing of the spark plasma sintered pellets in UTGARD and analysis in the ADRIANA laboratory at Lancaster University was funded via the National Nuclear User Facility Access Fund, grant No. #189. This work originated from a project funded through a United Kingdom Research & Innovation’s Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), grant EP/V051059. The pellet manufacture component of this work was conducted in Lancaster’s UTGARD Laboratory, a National Nuclear User Facility supported by EPSRC, grant EP/T011416/1.

Keywords

Hyperspectral imaging
Uranium dioxide
Post-irradiation examination
Nuclear fission
Waste management

UN SDGs

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

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10.1038/s41598-025-89338-wLicence: CC BY 4.0

Dunphy-etal-2025-Hyperspectral-imaging-suggests-potential-for-rapid-quantificationFinal published version, 2.86 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

Cite this

Dunphy, R. D., Parker, A. J., Bandala, M., Bennet, S., Boxall, C., Chard, P., Cockbain, N., Eaves, D., Goddard, D., Ma, X., Taylor, C. J., Wilbraham, R., Zabalza, J., Murray, P., & Joyce, M. J. (2025). Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel. Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 5434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89338-w

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title = "Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel",

abstract = "An analysis of sintered uranium dioxide has been conducted using a hyperspectral camera sensitive to short-wave infrared wavelengths in the range 949–2472 nm. Three groups of sintered UO2 nuclear fuel pellets were prepared and analysed, with stable sub-group surrogates introduced at the preparation stage to emulate the presence of fission product elements. Results show a clear, consistent, and reproducible spectral response across the pellet groups for pure UO2. Furthermore, the addition of fission product elements is observed to affect the shortwave infrared response, causing an overall flattening of the spectra. We have shown that this spectral change is correlated significantly with the presence of lanthanides in the fuel matrix. This result could have important potential in post-irradiation examination for quantifying nuclear fuel burn-up and radiotoxicity at discharge, as the hyperspectral imaging setup allows multiple (> 20) samples to be analysed in a single image, captured in under 30 s.",

keywords = "Hyperspectral imaging, Uranium dioxide, Post-irradiation examination, Nuclear fission, Waste management",

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Dunphy, RD, Parker, AJ, Bandala, M, Bennet, S, Boxall, C, Chard, P, Cockbain, N, Eaves, D, Goddard, D, Ma, X, Taylor, CJ, Wilbraham, R, Zabalza, J , Murray, P & Joyce, MJ 2025, 'Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, 5434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89338-w

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AU - Dunphy, R. David

AU - Parker, Andrew J.

AU - Bandala, Manuel

AU - Bennet, Stuart

AU - Boxall, Colin

AU - Chard, Patrick

AU - Cockbain, Neil

AU - Eaves, David

AU - Goddard, Dave

AU - Ma, Xiandong

AU - Taylor, C. James

AU - Wilbraham, Richard

AU - Zabalza, Jaime

AU - Murray, Paul

AU - Joyce, Malcolm J.

PY - 2025/2/13

Y1 - 2025/2/13

N2 - An analysis of sintered uranium dioxide has been conducted using a hyperspectral camera sensitive to short-wave infrared wavelengths in the range 949–2472 nm. Three groups of sintered UO2 nuclear fuel pellets were prepared and analysed, with stable sub-group surrogates introduced at the preparation stage to emulate the presence of fission product elements. Results show a clear, consistent, and reproducible spectral response across the pellet groups for pure UO2. Furthermore, the addition of fission product elements is observed to affect the shortwave infrared response, causing an overall flattening of the spectra. We have shown that this spectral change is correlated significantly with the presence of lanthanides in the fuel matrix. This result could have important potential in post-irradiation examination for quantifying nuclear fuel burn-up and radiotoxicity at discharge, as the hyperspectral imaging setup allows multiple (> 20) samples to be analysed in a single image, captured in under 30 s.

AB - An analysis of sintered uranium dioxide has been conducted using a hyperspectral camera sensitive to short-wave infrared wavelengths in the range 949–2472 nm. Three groups of sintered UO2 nuclear fuel pellets were prepared and analysed, with stable sub-group surrogates introduced at the preparation stage to emulate the presence of fission product elements. Results show a clear, consistent, and reproducible spectral response across the pellet groups for pure UO2. Furthermore, the addition of fission product elements is observed to affect the shortwave infrared response, causing an overall flattening of the spectra. We have shown that this spectral change is correlated significantly with the presence of lanthanides in the fuel matrix. This result could have important potential in post-irradiation examination for quantifying nuclear fuel burn-up and radiotoxicity at discharge, as the hyperspectral imaging setup allows multiple (> 20) samples to be analysed in a single image, captured in under 30 s.

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JO - Scientific Reports

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Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Projects

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

Cite this