Background

1. Monitoring Solutions for Nuclear Materials SafeguardsS. A. McElhaney, R. Lucero & M. Clapham BIL Solutions Inc. 4001 Office Court Drive #800Santa Fe, NM 87507, USA505 424 6660

2. Background BIL is a world leader in the measurement and characterization of radioactive materials. BIL’s history and evolution is as follows: • BIL Solutions began as Pajarito Scientific Corp. (PSC), a technology transfer company, in 1986. • British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL, plc) purchased PSC in 1995. • BNFL Instruments Inc. (BII) was officially changed from PSC in 1997. • BII changed its name toBIL Solutions, Inc. (BIL)in 2005. • BIL was sold by BNFL and changed it’s name to PSC Solutions in 2007. PSC Solutions, Inc. is now a small, American owned business.

3. Areas of Expertise BIL’s experience covers the major nuclear applications areas including: • NDA Program Development & Implementation • Instrumentation Design & Development • Waste Monitoring and Certification • WIPP Characterization • Decommissioning • Process Monitoring and Control Systems • Spent Fuel Characterization • Measurement Solutions for Nuclear Material Accountancy & Safeguards

4. Measurement Solutions for Nuclear Material Accountancy & Safeguards • Safeguards instrumentation and methodology must continue to evolve to meet new challenges and better understand existing challenges • Advancing safeguards measurements require early modeling and analysis of facility processes as well as integration of “state-of-the-art” and innovative measurement systems • Safeguards solutions need to focus on the overall picture • Technology development needs include advanced instrumentation, portable NDA capability, unattended and remote monitoring, containment and surveillance, and data integration and analysis

5. Measurement Solutions for Nuclear Material Accountancy & Safeguards • BIL offers a worldwide capability in Accountancy and Safeguards based on over 25 years of experience. We strive to provide innovative solutions such as: • FissTrack™ Instrumentation • Neutron Counting Electronics • PeakDoctor Spectral Analysis Software • RadScan® 800 Gamma Imager • Spent Fuel Monitoring

6. FissTrack™ Instrumentation The new FissTrack™ range of instruments and systems offers significant benefits through the integration of advanced measurement techniques with sophisticated data processing, analysis, and retrieval systems.

7. FissTrack™ Instrumentation Design The FissTrack™ design has been used in: • Plutonium or MOX Inventory Monitoring System • Plutonium Can Contents Monitor • Plutonium Hold-Up Monitor • Tracer Portable Hold-Up Monitor

8. FissTrack™ Instrumentation Benefits • Tamper-resistant supporting full data security • Remote maintenance and communications capability • Enhanced electronic noise immunity • Continuous, real-time systems status checking • Full retrospective analysis of stored data

9. Neutron Electronics • The neutron signal collection and data processing technology is based on the “time stamping” of pulses from individual neutron detectors. • The system has taken neutron detection technology away from cable-heavy radial architectures to a simple distributed ring system with local processing nodes that can be flexibly configured for various neutron counting applications.

10. Neutron Electronics Design ● Small low-cost, high efficiency, amplifiers, which are close-coupled to the detectors ● Simplification of detector cabling to use composite detector cable to provide both the power to amplifiers and return signal path for neutron pulses ● Distributed microcontroller Hub units are used as local nodes to power the amplifiers and process commands sent to them from the Data Acquisition Computer (DAC) for monitoring or control purposes ● Hubs assign each neutron event a detector address which is transmitted via a high speed Fiber Optic Data Ring to the DAC ● Minimization of “Dead Time” is achieved by each Hub de-randomizing concurrent neutron events – important for coincidence and multiplicity counting ● Neutron event timestamp is added to the Hub/detector address on arrival at the DAC ● Software data acquisition is performed by analysis of “time stamped” data stream ● Remote diagnostics and control of Hubs from the DAC ● Flexibility of configuration and application using only three standard modules

11. Neutron Electronics Benefits • Accuracy and Sensitivity – high count rates with very low dead times. • Scalability – System can accommodate up to 240 detectors distributed over 30 Hubs on a single fiber optic. • Flexibility - Detectors can be grouped in any configuration and many types of counting analysis performed. Data can be acquired individually for each detector, combined in groups, or as a system total, and each individual detector may be used in more than one grouping. • Maintenance and Diagnostics – Easy to maintain and remote diagnostic and status signals are sent back from Hubs allowing automatic system monitoring and alarming of malfunctions. • Tamperproof - Fiber optic data ring is monitored for continuity and tampering by means of watchdog signals. This improves the tamper-proofing of the system and enhances its applicability within regulatory environments.

12. PeakDoctor Spectral Analysis • PeakDoctor is a highly sophisticated gamma spectroscopy analysis tool designed to provide extremely accurate peak fit quantification for a wide range of gamma spectroscopy data (high and low resolution). • BIL Solutions is engaged with Los Alamos National Laboratory (N-2, WS-LLWD and TT groups) in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to commercialize the software. • The initial commercial version utilizes a user-friendly LabView based programming platform. • The routine is focused on precisely evaluating spectral data in order to maximize the accuracy of two key components of spectral analysis • 1) the net counts in all photopeak regions • 2) nuclide identification

13. PeakDoctor Design Features • PeakDoctor is extremely interactive allowing the skills of the analyst to guide the routine through a number of analysis steps. • Extensive and specialized radionuclide libraries are used in PeakDoctor to optimize gamma-ray energy calibration – and, thus isotopic identification. • Advanced features include: • 1) Step peak fitting • 2) Backscatter and Compton Edge fitting • 3) Peak tailing correction • Such advanced peak fitting options are not available or easily accomplished in current commercially available peak fitting software.

14. PeakDoctor User Interface

15. PeakDoctor User Interface

16. RadScan® 800 Gamma Imager • RadScan remotely locates and efficiently characterizes gamma hotspots in a wide variety of environments including building surfaces, cells, and in/on gloveboxes and process vessels. • RadScan maps and records the distribution and intensity of the measured radiation using spectral data and real-time color video images which may be viewed remotely.

17. RadScan® 800 Gamma Imager Benefits • Unique, remote-operated gamma spectroscopy imager • Performs radiation surveys quickly and safely • Compact and robust • Locates and characterizes nuclides in elevated gamma-emitting areas • Exceptionally accurate

18. Spent Fuel Monitoring • The Spent Fuel Monitoring system is based on over 20 years experience in the development and use of spent fuel systems in the US and UK. • The Spent Fuel Monitoring Service provides an independent verification of fuel characteristics. • Characterization of spent nuclear fuel • Measurement of burnup and cooling time • Measurement of axial burnup profile • Measurement data may be used for burnup credit allowing considerable cost savings in spent fuel storage, transport and disposal

19. Spent Fuel Monitoring Design • Measurement based on High Resolution Gamma Spectroscopy • Detection system is mounted onto side of storage pool in fixed orientation • Fuel assemblies delivered to the monitoring position with standard handling equipment • Data acquisition depends on required throughput and precision • System is robust and designed to be in contact with fuel during measurement to guarantee positional accuracy • Gamma collimator is enclosed in the housing which defines a fixed field of view for the fuel, enables very good repeatability and precision to be obtained while allowing short measurement times.

20. Spent Fuel Monitoring Performance • Turnkey burnup and cooling time verification for spent nuclear fuel • High relsolution germanium gamma detector (HRGS) • Fuel Types PWR, BWR, SGHWR fuel, enrichments up to 4% w/%, up to 30 years cooled • Burnup – uncertainty better than 4% • Cooling time (depending on age of fuel) – better than 5%

21. Conclusions • Safeguards approaches must continue to evolve to meet new challenges • Advanced safeguards techniques require early modeling and analysis of facility processes as well as integration of “state-of-the-art” measurement systems • Technology development needs include advanced instrumentation, portable NDA capability, unattended and remote monitoring, containment and surveillance, and data integration and analysis