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<p>A method to non-destructively evaluate areal uranium enrichment in HALEU fuel samples using gamma spectrometry was developed. The fuel being tested is U-10Mo monolithic high-density, high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel developed for the United States High Performance Research Reactor conversion program. It requires an areal enrichment variation of no more than ± 5% within a 0.2-inch (5.02&#xa0;cm) diameter area across the entire plate to prevent the formation of hotspots. The system employs gamma-ray raster scanning using HPGe for enrichment analysis and silicon drift detectors for thickness variation to fully scan over a fuel plate. Peak evaluation methods such as enrichment meter and multipeak analysis are used to verify areal enrichment variation. Preliminary widthwise scans of a miniplate, using normalized 185.7&#xa0;keV peak areas, showed most central locations within ± 5% enrichment variation limits, but edge positions exhibited up to 14% deviations and higher uncertainties due to asymmetric geometry and lower count rates from edge.</p>

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Gamma scanning for evaluation of areal HALEU fuel enrichment variation

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月2日

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  • Andrew Maier,
  • Tal Yankevich,
  • Kevin Herminghuysen,
  • Andrew Kauffman,
  • Praneeth Kandlakunta,
  • Michael Catalan,
  • Lei R. Cao

摘要

A method to non-destructively evaluate areal uranium enrichment in HALEU fuel samples using gamma spectrometry was developed. The fuel being tested is U-10Mo monolithic high-density, high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel developed for the United States High Performance Research Reactor conversion program. It requires an areal enrichment variation of no more than ± 5% within a 0.2-inch (5.02 cm) diameter area across the entire plate to prevent the formation of hotspots. The system employs gamma-ray raster scanning using HPGe for enrichment analysis and silicon drift detectors for thickness variation to fully scan over a fuel plate. Peak evaluation methods such as enrichment meter and multipeak analysis are used to verify areal enrichment variation. Preliminary widthwise scans of a miniplate, using normalized 185.7 keV peak areas, showed most central locations within ± 5% enrichment variation limits, but edge positions exhibited up to 14% deviations and higher uncertainties due to asymmetric geometry and lower count rates from edge.