Neutron absorbers and detector types for spent fuel verification using the self-interrogation neutron resonance densitometry

Results from Monte Carlo simulations showed that ranges between 0.1-0.3 mm and 0.5-1.0 mm ensure the optimal conditions for the Gd and Cd filters, respectively. Moreover, a 239Pu fission chamber is better suited to measure neutrons close to the 0.3 eV resonance and it has the highest sensitivity to 239Pu, in comparison with a 235U fission chamber, with a 3He proportional counter, and with a 10B proportional counter. The use of a thin Gd filter and a thick Cd filter is suggested for the 239Pu and 235U fission chambers to increase the total counts achieved in a measurement, while a thick Gd filter and a thin Cd filter are envisaged for the 3He and 10B proportional counters to increase the sensitivity to 239Pu. We concluded that an optimization process that takes into account measurement time, filters thickness, and detector size is needed to develop a SINRD detector that can meet the requirement for an efficient verification of spent fuel assemblies.