An integrated approach for the verification of fresh mixed oxide fuel (MOX) assemblies at light water reactor MOX recycle reactors

This paper presents an integrated approach for the verification of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies prior to their being loaded into the reactor. There is a coupling of the verification approach that starts at the fuel fabrication plant and stops with the transfer of the assemblies into the thermal reactor. The key measurement points are at the output of the fuel fabrication plant, the receipt at the reactor site, and the storage in the water pool as fresh fuel. The IAEA currently has the capability to measure the MOX fuel assemblies at the output of the fuel fabrication plants using a passive neutron coincidence counting systems of the passive neutron collar (PNCL) type. Also. at the MOX reactor pool, the underwater coincidence counter (UWCC) has been developed to measure the MOX assemblies in the water. The UWCC measurement requires that the fuel assembly be lifted about two meters up in the storage rack to avoid interference from the fuel that is stored in the rack. This paper presents a new method to verify the MOX fuel assemblies that are in the storage rack without the necessity of moving the fuel. The detector system is called the Underwater MOX Verification System (UMVS). The integration and relationship of the three measurements systems is described.