Status Report on the Passive Neutron Enrichment Meter (PNEM) for UF6 Cylinder Assay

The Passive Neutron Enrichment Meter (PNEM) is a nondestructive assay (NDA) system being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). It was designed to determine 235U mass and enrichment of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) in product, feed, and tails cylinders (i.e., 30B and 48Y cylinders). These cylinders are found in the nuclear fuel cycle at uranium conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication facilities. The PNEM is a 3He-based neutron detection system that consists of two briefcase-sized detector pods. A photograph of the system during characterization at LANL is shown in Fig. 1. Several signatures are currently being studied to determine the most effective measurement and data reduction technique for unfolding 235U mass and enrichment. The system collects total neutron and coincidence data for both bare and cadmium-covered detector pods. The measurement concept grew out of the success of the Uranium Cylinder Assay System (UCAS), which is an operator system at Rokkasho Enrichment Plant (REP) that uses total neutron counting to determine 235U mass in UF6 cylinders. The PNEM system was designed with higher efficiency than the UCAS in order to add coincidence counting functionality for the enrichment determination. A photograph of the UCAS with a 48Y cylinder at REP is shown in Fig. 2, and the calibration measurement data for 30B product and 48Y feed and tails cylinders is shown in Fig. 3. The data was collected in a low-background environment, meaning there is very little scatter in the data. The PNEM measurement concept was first presented at the 2010 Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) Annual Meeting. The physics design and uncertainty analysis were presented at the 2010 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards Symposium, and the mechanical and electrical designs and characterization measurements were published in the ESARDA Bulletin in 2011.