Non destructive determination of PuO2 content in MOX fuel pins for fast reactors using Passive Gamma Scanning

Use of Passive Gamma Scanning for non destructive evaluation of PuO2 content in mixed oxide (MOX) fuels for fast reactors is demonstrated. Experiments have been carried out on MOX fuel pins for the hybrid core of Fast Breeder Test Reactor having nominal PuO2 content of 44% and MOX pins having nominal PuO2 content of 21% for the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. A comparison of results obtained using a conventional NaI(Tl) detector and that using a through well shaped detector is also presented.