LOKET—a gamma-ray spectroscopy system for in-pool measurements of thermal power distribution in irradiated nuclear fuel

An important issue in the operations of nuclear power plants is the independent validation of core physics codes like e.g. Westinghouse PHOENIX-4/POLCA-7. Such codes are used to predict the thermal power distribution down to single node level in the core. In this paper, a dedicated measurement system (LOKET) is described and experimental results are discussed. The system is based on a submergible housing, containing a high-resolution germanium detector, allowing for measurements in-pool. The system can be transported to virtually any nuclear power plant's fuel storage pool for measurements in-pool during outage. The methodology utilises gamma radiation specific for 140La, whose decay is governed by the parent 140Ba, reflecting a weighted average power distribution, representative for the last weeks of operation of the core.Good agreements between measured power distribution and core physics calculations (Ba distribution) have been obtained during a series of experiments at Leibstadt NPP in Switzerland and Cofrentes NPP in Spain (BWRs) for both fuel assemblies and single fuel rods. The system has proven as a very useful tool for the experimental validation of core calculations also for the most complex fuel designs and challenging core configurations. Experimental errors (on the 1−σ level), has been demonstrated below ±2% on nodal level for assembly measurements.