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A concept model of a measurement station for gamma-ray spectroscopy for safeguards verification of spent fuel from the future MYRRHA facility has been developed using MCNP6.2. The measurement station consists of a collimator and a lanthanum bromide detector which are placed adjacent to a cylindrical container with the fuel assembly submerged in lead–bismuth eutectic for cooling. The total count rate as well as the peak-area uncertainties for several gamma-ray peaks have been studied for a number of measurement geometries to determine the optimal collimator dimensions and assess how the performance depends on the lead–bismuth container geometry. Finally, the contribution from each fuel pin in the assembly to the detected signal has been determined as a function of gamma-ray energy to determine if the inner parts of the fuel assembly can be assayed with gamma-ray measurements. The results show that the dimensions of the lead–bismuth container will have a considerable effect on both the total count rate and the peak-area uncertainties, but that gamma-ray spectroscopy could be used for verification of spent fuel from MYRRHA.

The paper describes a data library containing material composition of spent nuclear fuel. The data is extracted from burnup and depletion calculations with the Serpent2 code. The simulations were done with a PWR fuel pin cell geometry, for both initial UO2 and MOX fuel load for a wide range of initial enrichments (IE) or initial plutonium content (IPC), discharge burnup (BU) and cooling time (CT). The fuel library contains the atomic density of 279 nuclides (fission products and actinides), the total spontaneous fission rate, total photon emission rate, activity and decay heat at 789,406 different BU, CT, IE configurations for UO2 fuel and at 531,991 different BU, CT, IPC configurations for MOX fuel. The fuel library is organized in a publicly available comma separated value file, thus its further analysis is possible and simple.

The Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device (DCVD) is a tool used to verify irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage by imaging the Cherenkov light produced by the radiation emitted from the assemblies. It is frequently used for partial defect verification, verifying that part of an assembly has not been removed and/or replaced. In one of the verification procedures used, the detected total Cherenkov light intensities from a set of assemblies are compared to predicted intensities, which are calculated using operator declarations for the assemblies. This work presents a new, time-efficient method to simulate DCVD images of fuel assemblies, allowing for estimations of the Cherenkov light production, transport and detection. Qualitatively, good agreement between simulated and measured images is demonstrated. Quantitatively, it is shown that relative intensity predictions based on simulated images are within 0.5% of corresponding predictions based solely on the production of Cherenkov light, neglecting light transport and detection. Consequently, in most cases it is sufficient to use predictions based on produced Cherenkov light, neglecting transport and detection, thus substantially reducing the time needed for simulations. In a verification campaign, assemblies are grouped according to their type, and the relative measured and predicted intensities are compared in a group. By determining transparency factors, describing the fraction of Cherenkov light that is blocked by the top plate of an assembly, it is possible to adjust predictions based on the production of Cherenkov light to take the effect of the top plate into account. This procedure allows assemblies of the same type bit with different top plates to be compared with increased accuracy. The effect of using predictions adjusted with transparency factors were assessed experimentally on a set of Pressurized Water Reactor 17x17 assemblies having five different top plate designs. As a result of the adjustment, the agreement between measured and predicted relative intensities for the whole data set was enhanced, resulting in a reduction of an RMSE from 14.1% to 10.7%. It is expected that further enhancements may be achieved by introducing more detailed top-plate and spacer descriptions.

The operator declarations of spent nuclear fuel assemblies are routinely verified for nuclearsafeguards purposes to ensure their non-diversion and integrity. Many countries considerthe possibility of eventually placing the fuel in a geological repository and prior to this it isexpected that the fuel assemblies need to be carefully characterized and verified, for instanceusing gamma spectroscopy measurements. It can be expected that in connection to suchactivities, verifying parameters such as burnup (the energy outtake from the nuclear fuel),cooling time (the time the fuel spent outside the reactor after operation), initial enrichment(the amount of fissile material in the fuel before operation) and integrity (whether pins insidethe assembly have been manipulated) may become an important task of nuclear safeguardsinspectors, since discrepancies may indicate unauthorized activities at the facilities. Ideally,the verification should be done with non-destructive assay systems.Passive gamma spectroscopy provides a robust and relatively simple method to analyze spentfuel since the characteristics of spent nuclear fuel strongly affect the gamma radiation emittedfrom the fuel (Jansson, 2002). Lately, passive gamma tomography has also become a possiblemethod to characterize and analyze properties of spent nuclear fuels (Mayorov et al., 2017).In both cases, gamma radiation is measured around the fuel assembly from a distance usingone or more collimated detectors with spectroscopic capabilities. Of great interest is thedetector efficiency of these systems, i.e., the ratio between number of detected particles andnumber of particles emitted by the source. The detector efficiency is the product of thegeometric efficiency (probability that emitted particles reach the detector region) and theintrinsic efficiency of the detector (probability that the particles are detected)

Using a high-purity Germanium gamma-ray energy spectroscopic detector system, time-stamped list-mode data sets were acquired during axial scanning of 19 boiling water reactor (BWR) and 28 pressurized water reactor (PWR) type of nuclear fuel assemblies. The data sets were collected during two measurements campaigns in September 2016 and March 2019 at the Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear (Clab) in Sweden. A certified calibration source of 137Cs was positioned along the central line of sight between the measured fuel assembly and the detector. Data sets from measurements with only the calibration source and other background sources, i.e. without a nuclear fuel assembly present, are also included. The list-mode structure of the measured data allows for an axially-resolved as well as energy-spectral resolved intensity of nuclide-specific gamma lines emitted from the spent nuclear fuel. Data presented here can be used e.g. for validation of gamma-ray transport simulation tools or for development of methods to estimate parameters of the spent nuclear fuel based on data from gamma-ray spectroscopy.

The Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device (DCVD) is an imaging tool used by authority inspectors for partial defect verification of nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage, i.e. to verify that part of an assembly has not been diverted. One of the currently adopted verification procedures is based on quantitative measurements of the assembly's Cherenkov light emissions, and comparisons to an expected intensity, calculated based on operator declarations. A background subtraction of the intensity data in the recorded images is necessary for accurate quantitative measurements. The currently used background subtraction is aimed at removing an electronics-induced image-wide offset, but it is argued here that the currently adopted procedure may be insufficient. It is recommended that a standard dark-frame subtraction should be used, to remove systematic pixel-wise background due to the electronics, replacing the currently used offset procedure. Experimental analyses show that a dark-frame subtraction would further enhance the accuracy and reliability of DCVD measurements. Furthermore, should ageing of the CCD chip result in larger systematic pixel-wise deviations over time, a dark-frame subtraction can ensure reliable measurements regardless of the age of the CCD chip. It can also help in eliminating any adverse effects of malfunctioning pixels. In addition to the background from electronic noise, ways to compensate for background from neighbouring fuel assemblies and ambient light are also discussed.

A fuel assembly operated in a nuclear power plant typically contains 100–300 fuel rods, depending on fuel type, which become strongly radioactive during irradiation in the reactor core. For operational and security reasons, it is of interest to experimentally deduce rod-wise information from the fuel, preferably by means of non-destructive measurements. The tomographic SPECT technique offers such possibilities through its two-step application; (1) recording the gamma-ray flux distribution around the fuel assembly, and (2) reconstructing the assembly׳s internal source distribution, based on the recorded radiation field. In this paper, algorithms for performing the latter step and extracting quantitative relative rod-by-rod data are accounted for. As compared to application of SPECT in nuclear medicine, nuclear fuel assemblies present a much more heterogeneous distribution of internal attenuation to gamma radiation than the human body, typically with rods containing pellets of heavy uranium dioxide surrounded by cladding of a zirconium alloy placed in water or air. This inhomogeneity severely complicates the tomographic quantification of the rod-wise relative source content, and the deduction of conclusive data requires detailed modelling of the attenuation to be introduced in the reconstructions. However, as shown in this paper, simplified models may still produce valuable information about the fuel. Here, a set of reconstruction algorithms for SPECT on nuclear fuel assemblies are described and discussed in terms of their quantitative performance for two applications; verification of fuel assemblies׳ completeness in nuclear safeguards, and rod-wise fuel characterization. It is argued that a request not to base the former assessment on any a priori information brings constraints to which reconstruction methods that may be used in that case, whereas the use of a priori information on geometry and material content enables highly accurate quantitative assessment, which may be particularly useful in the latter application. Two main classes of algorithms are covered; (1) analytic filtered back-projection algorithms, and (2) a group of model-based or algebraic algorithms. For the former class, a basic algorithm has been implemented, which does not take attenuation in the materials of the fuel assemblies into account and which assumes an idealized imaging geometry. In addition, a novel methodology has been presented for introducing a first-order correction to the obtained images for these deficits; in particular, the effects of attenuation are taken into account by modelling the response for an object with a homogeneous mix of fuel materials in the image area. Neither the basic algorithm, nor the correction method requires prior knowledge of the fuel geometry, but they result in images of the assembly׳s internal activity distribution. Image analysis is then applied to deduce quantitative information. Two algebraic algorithms are also presented, which model attenuation in the fuel assemblies to different degrees; either assuming a homogenous mix of materials in the image area without a priori information or utilizing known information of the assembly geometry and of its position in the measuring setup for modelling the gamma-ray attenuation in detail. Both algorithms model the detection system in detail. The former algorithm returns an image of the cross-section of the object, from which quantitative information is extracted, whereas the latter returns conclusive relative rod-by-rod data. Here, all reconstruction methods are demonstrated on simulated data of a 96-rod fuel assembly in a tomographic measurement setup. The assembly was simulated with the same activity content in all rods for evaluation purposes. Based on the results, it is argued that the choice of algorithm to a large degree depends on application, and also that a combination of reconstruction methods may be useful. A discussion on alternative analysis methods is also included.

Safeguards verification of irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage is frequently done by measuring the Cherenkov light in the surrounding water produced due to radioactive decays of fission products in the fuel. This paper accounts for the physical processes behind the Cherenkov light production caused by a single fuel rod in wet storage, and simulations are presented that investigate to what extent various properties of the rod affect the Cherenkov light production. The results show that the fuel properties has a noticeable effect on the Cherenkov light production, and thus that the prediction models for Cherenkov light production which are used in the safeguards verifications could potentially be improved by considering these properties.It is concluded that the dominating source of the Cherenkov light is gamma-ray interactions with electrons in the surrounding water. Electrons created from beta decay may also exit the fuel and produce Cherenkov light, and e.g. Y-90 was identified as a possible contributor to significant levels of the measurable Cherenkov light in long-cooled fuel. The results also show that the cylindrical, elongated fuel rod geometry results in a non-isotropic Cherenkov light production, and the light component parallel to the rod's axis exhibits a dependence on gamma-ray energy that differs from the total intensity, which is of importance since the typical safeguards measurement situation observes the vertical light component. It is also concluded that the radial distributions of the radiation sources in a fuel rod will affect the Cherenkov light production.

The Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device (DCVD) [1] is a tool used by nuclear safeguards inspectors to verify irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage based on the Cherenkov light produced by the assembly. Verifying that no rods have been substituted in the fuel, so-called partial-defect verification, is done by comparing the intensity measured with a DCVD with a predicted intensity, based on operator fuel declaration. The prediction model currently used by inspectors is based on simulations of Cherenkov light production in a BWR 8x8 geometry. This work investigates prediction models based on simulated Cherenkov light production in a BWR 8x8 and a PWR 17x17 assembly, as well as a simplified model based on a single rod in water. Cherenkov light caused by both fission product gamma and beta decays was considered. The simulations reveal that there are systematic differences between the model used by safeguards inspectors and the models described in this publication, most noticeably with respect to the fuel assembly cooling time. Consequently, if the intensity predictions are based on another fuel type than the fuel type being measured, a systematic bias in intensity with respect to burnup and cooling time is introduced. While a simplified model may be accurate enough for a set of fuel assemblies with nearly identical cooling times, the prediction models may differ systematically by up to 18 % for fuels with more varied cooling times. Accordingly, these investigations indicate that the currently used model may need to be exchanged with a set of more detailed, fuel-type specific models, in order minimize the model dependent systematic deviations.

The thesis comprises investigations of two topics related to the PANDA experiment. The first part is dedicated to energy resolution and light yield uniformity studies of PWO crystals for the electromagnetic calorimeter. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to simulation studies of the p̅p→Λ̅Λ and the p̅p→Λ̅Σ0 channels. Photon response measurements with one 3×3 crystals matrix of rectangular crystals and one 5×5 matrix with tapered crystals have been performed at the MAX-Lab synchrotron facility in Lund, Sweden. Photon energies in the range of 13-84 MeV were used. GEANT4 simulations were performed in order to find the most suitable method for adding the energy contributions and for calibration purposes. The widths, σ, of the resulting experimental summed energy peaks were fitted using the Novosibirsk distribution. The results show that the electromagnetic shower at 84 MeV is completely contained in the 5×5 matrix. The widths (σ) for the summed energy peaks were determined.Studies of the uniformity of the light yield were performed for crystals of three different shapes and different wrapping materials. The light yield as a function of distance between the point of energy depositions and the PM tube, was shown to be closely related to the crystal shape and the wrapping material. The p̅p→Λ̅Λ channel was studies at beam momenta of 1.64 GeV/c, 4 GeV/c and 15 GeV/c, while p̅p→Λ̅Σ0 was studied at 4 GeV/c. In the simulations, both phase space differential cross-sections and experimental differential cross-sections from PS185 were used as input. The purpose of the simulations was to show that the reaction channels can be reconstructed in the detector. Special interest was paid to the polarisation and spin correlations of the hyperons. The result is that there is acceptance of cosθ angular range over the full momentum range of the HESR for both channels. Using isotropic differential cross-sections, the polarisation for Λ̅ and Σ0 as well as spin correlations between Λ̅Λ and Λ̅Σ0 can be well reconstructed. Using the differential cross-sections from PS185, the particles are more likely to go forwards in their respective directions in the CM-system, thus making reconstruction over the full angular range more difficult at high beam momenta.

The Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) facility in Darmstadt, Germany, will be upgraded to accommodate a new generation of physics experiments. The future accelerator facility will be called FAIR and one of the experimentsat the site will be PANDA, which aims at performing hadron physics investigations by colliding anti-protons with protons. The licentiate thesis consistsof three sections related to PANDA. The first contains energy resolutionstudies of PbWO4 crystals, the second light yield uniformity studies of PbWO4 crystals and the third reconstruction of the lambda-bar-polarisation in the PANDA experiment. Two measurements of the energy resolution were performed at MAX-Lab in Lund, Sweden, with an array of 3x3 PbWO4 crystals using a tagged photon beam with energies between 19 and 56 MeV. For the April measurement, the crystals were cooled down to -15 degrees C and for the September measurement down to -25 degrees C. The measured relative energy resolution, /E, is decreasing from approximately 12% at 20 MeV to 7% at 55 MeV. In the standard energy resolution expression /E = a/ b/E c, the three parameters a, b and c seem to be strongly correlated and thus difficult to determine independently over this relative small energy range. The value of a was therefore fixed to that one would expect from Poisson statistics of the light collection yield (50 phe/MeV) and the results from fits were /E=0.45%/ 0.18%/EGeV 8.63% and /E = 0.45%/0.21%/EGeV 6.12% for the April and September measurements, respectively. The data from the September measurement was also combined with previous data from MAMI for higher energies, ranging from approximately 64 to 715 MeV. The global fit over the whole range of energies gave an energy resolution expression of /E = 1.6%/ 0.095%/EGeV 2.1%. Light yield uniformity studies of five PbWO4 crystals, three tapered and two non-tapered ones, have also been performed. The tapered crystals delivered a light output which increased with increasing distance from the Photo Multiplier Tube (PM tube). Black tape was put on different sides of one tapered crystals, far from the PM tube to try to get a more constant uniformity prole. It was seen that the light output profile depends on the position of the tape. Generally, the steep increase in light output at large distances from the PM tube could be damped. The third part of the thesis concerns the reconstruction of the lambdabar polarisation in the reaction . Events were generated using a modied generator from the PS185 experiment at LEAR. With a 100% polarisation perpendicular to the scattering plane, a polarisation of (99±1.8)% was reconstructed. Slight non-zero polarisations along the axis determined by the outgoing hyperon as well as the axis in the scattering plane, were also reconstructed. These were (4.1±2.1)% and (2.6±2.0)% respectively. From this investigation it was shown that the detector efficiency was not homogeneous and that slow pions are difficult to reconstruct.