Calibration and Characterization of the Small Sample Calorimeter

Santi, Peter A.¹  Perry, Katherine A.¹ 

[1] Los Alamos National Laboratory

关键词: ACCURACY;    CALIBRATION;    CALORIMETERS;    FUEL CYCLE;    IAEA;    IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY;    LANL;    PERFORMANCE;    RECYCLING;    SAFEGUARDS;    SPENT FUELS;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1048836
RP-ID  :  LA-UR-12-24053
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1048836
Others  :  TRN: US1204376

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来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

An early component of the Joint Fuel Cycle Study (JFCS) between the United States and the Republic of Korea is a test of gram scale electrochemical recycling of spent fuel which is to be performed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Included in this test is the development of Nondestructive Assay (NDA) technologies that would be applicable for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards of the electrochemical recycling process. Of upmost importance to safeguarding the fuel cycle associated with the electrochemical recycling process is the ability to safeguard the U/TRU ingots that will be produced in the process. For the gram scale test, the ingots that will be produced will have an expected thermal power of approximately 130 mW. To ascertain how well the calorimetric assay NDA technique can perform in assaying these ingots, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has characterized and calibrated a small solid-state calorimeter called the Small Sample Calorimeter (SSC3) to perform these measurements at LANL. To calibrate and characterize the SSC3, a series of measurements were performed using certified {sup 238}Pu heat standards whose power output is traceable back to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) electrical standards. The results of these measurements helped establish both the calibration of the calorimeter as well as the expected performance of the calorimeter in terms of its accuracy and precision as a function of thermal power of the item that is being measured. In this report, we will describe the measurements that were performed and provide a discussion of the results of these measurements.