Signatures and Methods for the Automated Nondestructive Assay of UF6 Cylinders at Uranium Enrichment Plants

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors currently perform periodic inspections at uranium enrichment plants to verify UF6 cylinder enrichment declarations. Measurements are typically performed with handheld high-resolution sensors on a sampling of cylinders taken to be representative of the facility’s entire cylinder inventory. These measurements are time-consuming, expensive, and assay only a small fraction of the total cylinder volume. An automated nondestructive assay system capable of providing enrichment measurements over the full volume of the cylinder could improve upon current verification practices in terms of manpower and assay accuracy. Such a station would use sensors that can be operated in an unattended mode at an industrial facility: medium-resolution scintillators for gamma-ray spectroscopy (e.g., NaI(Tl)) and moderated He-3 neutron detectors. This sensor combination allows the exploitation of additional, more-penetrating signatures beyond the traditional 185-keV emission from U-235: neutrons produced from F-19(α,n) reactions (spawned primarily from U 234 alpha emission) and high-energy gamma rays (extending up to 8 MeV) induced by neutrons interacting in the steel cylinder. This paper describes a study of these non-traditional signatures for the purposes of cylinder enrichment verification. The signatures and the radiation sensors designed to collect them are described, as are proof-of-principle cylinder measurements and analyses. Key sources of systematic uncertainty in the non-traditional signatures are discussed, and the potential benefits of utilizing these non-traditional signatures, in concert with an automated form of the traditional 185-keV-based assay, are discussed.