High concentration measurements of U and Pu with non- destructive and standard less K-edge densitometer device

E. Esbelin (1) , C. Rivier (1) , G. Duhamel (2)

1 CEA-DES (ex-DEN) - CEA-Direction des Energies (ex-Direction de l'Energie Nucléaire)
2 IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency [Vienna]

The K-edge densitometry, also called absorption measurement, is based on Beer-Lambert-s law to relate the X-ray beam attenuation to the composition properties of the material to be studied. This technique is dedicated to the measurement of high concentrations of U and-or Pu typically above 50 g-L. Its relatively fast analysis time and its high accuracy make it a valuable choice in nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. This paper presents the results obtained from assay sample with high U and Pu concentrations. Two processing methods without calibration (except energy calibration) are compared and discussed. Despite literature which does not recommend the use of estimated mass attenuation coefficients near edge energy, this study shows that some very good results are obtained with these values for uranium and plutonium concentration estimations, with a bias less than 1 percent.

Mots clés: K-edge densitometer; Uranium; Plutonium; Standardless

Domaines: Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]; Physique Nucléaire Théorique [nucl-th]

E. Esbelin, C. Rivier, G. Duhamel. High concentration measurements of U and Pu with non- destructive and standard less K-edge densitometer device. X-Ray Spectrometry, 2017, 47, pp.22-33. ⟨10.1002/xrs.2802⟩. ⟨cea-02418698⟩