Passive gamma spectrometry of low-volatile FPs for accountancy of special nuclear material in molten core material of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; Evaluation of detector response from various hypothetical fuel canister

Shiba, Tomooki  ; Sagara, Hiroshi*; Tomikawa, Hirofumi

In response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, passive gamma spectrometry is being researched and developed as one of the candidates of a mass measurement method for the special nuclear materials in molten core material. Among Fission Products (FPs) accompanied in molten core materials, some of them are very low-volatile and emit high-energy gamma rays, which enable us to derive the mass of those FPs by passive gamma spectrometry. Using the mass ratio of the FPs and nuclear materials, this technique provides the mass estimation of nuclear materials. This technique is relatively simple and was applied to the analysis of nuclear materials in the clean-up process of damaged Three Mile Island unit-2 (TMI-2) reactor. In this paper, we show the characteristics of leakage gamma rays from removed fuel canisters simulated by MCNP. Different detector responses to gamma rays from fuel debris are also evaluated supposing NaI, LaBr and HPGe.