Evaluation of Neutron Absorber Panels from Zion Spent Fuel Pool

In spent fuel pools (SFPs), fixed neutron absorber materials are used to increase storage capacity while maintaining criticality safety margins. BORAL^R is a commonly used neutron absorber material for both wet (SFPs) and dry storage (casks). The specific questions surrounding fixed neutron absorber materials include the following: 1. What are the conditions of the neutron absorber panels in SFPs? Is there any gross degradation that could cause potential concern for criticality safety of the pools? 2. Is the coupon monitoring approach adequate for monitoring the conditions of the panels as part of an aging management program? 3. For plants that do not have coupons, do current in situ measurement approaches provide accurate results? Could such in situ approaches be used as an alternative monitoring approach? In order to shed light on these technical questions using actual plant data, EPRI initiated the Zion comparative analysis project at the decommissioning Zion Nuclear Power Plant in late 2014. An overview of the Zion plant, SFP, and project was described in a previous publication. (authors)