Concepts for and demonstration of gamma-ray process monitoring for reprocessing facilities

Rodriguez, D. ; Tanigawa, Masafumi ; Seya, Michio; Nakamura, Hironobu 

To improve safeguards verification capabilities and to reduce the amount of time for IAEA inspectors, the JAEA is developing improved plutonium monitoring capabilities. One of these is a multi-scope concept to continuously monitor purified NM solutions by measuring the NM gamma rays both at the solution tanks and along the transfer pipes. A demonstration of a GR pipe monitoring was performed at the JAEA PCDF and confirmed that this determines both process operations and Pu isotopic composition. This spectrum can be compared to similar spectra collected at tanks to improve CoK. We also propose measuring the delayed GRs from short-lived fission products generated by neutron self-interrogation of the solution in the tanks. The paper will describe an overview of the JAEA gamma-ray process-monitoring concept and the delayed gamma-ray development efforts and technologies to expand safeguards capabilities at reprocessing facilities.