TY - GEN
T1 - Evaluation of the LANL hand held multiplicity register and Canberra JSR-15
AU - Menaa, N.
AU - Villani, M.
AU - Croft, S.
AU - Mcelroy, B.
AU - Venkataraman, R.
AU - Philips, S.
AU - Newell, M.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Passive Neutron Coincidence Counting (PNCC) and Passive Neutron Multiplicity Counting (PNMC) techniques are important non destructive assay methods used in the quantification of plutonium and other spontaneously fissile materials across the fuel cycle. They are based on Multiplicity Shift Register (MSR) pulse train correlation analyzers such as the Canberra Multiplicity Shift Register (MSR) JSR-14. The JSR-14, although quite successful, is somewhat limited by a 4 MHz SR and has no front panel display. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has recently developed a hand-held multiplicity register (HHMR) that possesses a 50 MHz SR as well as an interactive front panel display with user settable parameters. Under CRADA (cooperative research and development agreement) guidelines, Canberra Industries will commercialize the product. The display and user interface allows for parameter entry and provides the user with feedback of the current operating parameters as well as the MSR results, e.g., multiplicity histograms. The higher MSR clock speed will provide functionality not previously possible under extreme counting conditions, e.g., waste assay with relatively high-gram quantities of heat source material. A prototype HHMR unit was obtained from LANL and has been tested. In this paper, we present the test results of the reliability of the unit, the user interface functionality, support for existing software, and the performance of the 50 MHz MSR. The reliability tests involved the integrity of the battery and voltage supplies, signal triggering performance, and the robustness of the PC USB/virtual COM port interface. The software compatibility tests were conducted using the latest available versions of the LANL INCC and Canberra NDA 2000 software packages. A 20MHz de-randomizer board was installed into a Canberra neutron coincidence counter to examine the performance of the 50 MHz JSR-15 MSR as compared to the 4 MHz JSR-14 MSR. The functionality of JSR-14 and HHMR at low instantaneous counting rates as well as high rates was tested using a random pulser, Am-Be and 252Cf sources. In this paper we report on the results for the tests conducted during the evaluation period.
AB - Passive Neutron Coincidence Counting (PNCC) and Passive Neutron Multiplicity Counting (PNMC) techniques are important non destructive assay methods used in the quantification of plutonium and other spontaneously fissile materials across the fuel cycle. They are based on Multiplicity Shift Register (MSR) pulse train correlation analyzers such as the Canberra Multiplicity Shift Register (MSR) JSR-14. The JSR-14, although quite successful, is somewhat limited by a 4 MHz SR and has no front panel display. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has recently developed a hand-held multiplicity register (HHMR) that possesses a 50 MHz SR as well as an interactive front panel display with user settable parameters. Under CRADA (cooperative research and development agreement) guidelines, Canberra Industries will commercialize the product. The display and user interface allows for parameter entry and provides the user with feedback of the current operating parameters as well as the MSR results, e.g., multiplicity histograms. The higher MSR clock speed will provide functionality not previously possible under extreme counting conditions, e.g., waste assay with relatively high-gram quantities of heat source material. A prototype HHMR unit was obtained from LANL and has been tested. In this paper, we present the test results of the reliability of the unit, the user interface functionality, support for existing software, and the performance of the 50 MHz MSR. The reliability tests involved the integrity of the battery and voltage supplies, signal triggering performance, and the robustness of the PC USB/virtual COM port interface. The software compatibility tests were conducted using the latest available versions of the LANL INCC and Canberra NDA 2000 software packages. A 20MHz de-randomizer board was installed into a Canberra neutron coincidence counter to examine the performance of the 50 MHz JSR-15 MSR as compared to the 4 MHz JSR-14 MSR. The functionality of JSR-14 and HHMR at low instantaneous counting rates as well as high rates was tested using a random pulser, Am-Be and 252Cf sources. In this paper we report on the results for the tests conducted during the evaluation period.
KW - Analyzers
KW - Counter
KW - HHMR
KW - JSR-14
KW - JSR-15
KW - Multiplicity
KW - Nuclear
KW - Register
KW - Waste assay
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/48349122952
U2 - 10.1109/NSSMIC.2007.4436345
DO - 10.1109/NSSMIC.2007.4436345
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:48349122952
SN - 1424409233
SN - 9781424409235
T3 - IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record
SP - 342
EP - 347
BT - 2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS-MIC
T2 - 2007 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS-MIC
Y2 - 27 October 2007 through 3 November 2007
ER -