Delayed Gamma Assay for Nuclear Safeguards

Vladimir_Mozin
SPEAKER:
VLADIMIR MOZIN
DATE/TIME:
MON, 03/07/2011 – 4:00PM TO 5:00PM
LOCATION:
3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL
Spring 2011 Colloquium Series
Abstract:

The UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory participates in the US DOE Next Generation Safeguards Initiative with a focus on developing advanced instruments and methods in nuclear material control and accountancy. Within this context, a delayed gamma non-destructive assay (NDA) technique is being investigated as a means to directly quantify both the fissile and fertile content of spent nuclear fuel, and as a general safeguards tool that can be easily integrated with other active interrogation instruments. In support of this research, a newly developed modeling technique was introduced, offering a versatile capability for time- and spatially-dependent, prompt and delayed discrete gamma source term and detector response calculations. The new modeling approach was validated in a series of experiments involving accelerator-driven neutron sources and samples of fissile and fertile materials and their combinations with varying parameters for interrogation setups.

About the Speaker:

Vladimir Mozin graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physical Institute in 2002 with an M.S. in Radiochemistry. He spent several years working as an engineer at a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate participating in a collaborative research effort between the UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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