Integrating Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence Safeguards into Nuclear Energy Systems using Non-proliferation Assessment Methods

A new detection technique, originally thought for the detection of explosives in cargo containers, is presented in this paper for the particular application of isotopic detection of nuclear materials in a Nuclear Energy System (NES). This technique is called Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence (NRF) and the reference fuel scheme to which it is applied is the Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR). The objective of this application is to safeguard nuclear fuel schemes from diversion of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) in order to increase the proliferation resistance of the facilities exposed to these potential threats. In this paper, first, we provide a description of a pre-experimental configuration accompanied by the changes in the NRF architecture to adapt it from the cargo to isotopic detection mode. Second, we study the experimental configuration to determine the critical parameters driving the probability of detection of SNM as a function of the economic resources employed by the virtual safeguarder of the plant. Finally, a method named ISTEM, currently under development at MIT, to assess the proliferation resistance of a nuclear energy system is presented and tested with NRF. The results from a reference illustrative example simulated on the SFR fuel cycle, show the effective capability of NRF to safeguard the nuclear schemes and the potential to measure corresponding increases in the proliferation resistance of the selected scheme by means of the assessment method. The conclusions discuss the needs to protect future nuclear fuel schemes with advanced NRF safeguards and to have adequate tools to measure the benefits of having such systems in place versus the cost devoted to their integration into the NES. The use of assessment techniques to describe and measure the proliferation resistance of NES provides a fundamental tool to support the development of risk-informed and performance-based approaches. Proceedings of ICAPP ‘10 San Diego, CA, USA, June 13-17, 2010 Paper 10312