Progress towards electron–photon coincidence detection of noble gases for enhanced safety monitoring of nuclear fuel

IF 2.8 3区物理与天体物理 Q3 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Radiation Physics and Chemistry Pub Date : 2025-03-21 DOI:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.112703

S.E. Poulton , P.H. Regan , S.J. Bell , R. Shearman , M.A. Goodwin , E.B. O’Sullivan , M. Ryan

{"title":"Progress towards electron–photon coincidence detection of noble gases for enhanced safety monitoring of nuclear fuel","authors":"S.E. Poulton , P.H. Regan , S.J. Bell , R. Shearman , M.A. Goodwin , E.B. O’Sullivan , M. Ryan","doi":"10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.112703","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The conditions under which nuclear fission occurs affects the ratio of radio-xenon isotopes and their metastable states which are produced. Measuring the ratio can be used to monitor the condition of nuclear fuel through its life span. This conference paper presents preliminary results from the testing of an electron–photon coincidence system at resolving signals from two isotopes of radio-xenon compared to the background. The detector system is comprised of a PIPSBox silicon detector and a high-purity germanium detector, with signals from both detectors processed using a 500 MHz CAEN digitiser. The system was tested using a mixed gaseous source containing <span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>131</mn><mi>m</mi></mrow></msup></math></span>Xe (t<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>=11.84(4) days) and <sup>133</sup>Xe (t<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>=5.25475(5) days). The preliminary results show a clear separation between events associated with the discrete-energy internal conversion lines associated with the <span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>131</mn><mi>m</mi></mrow></msup></math></span>Xe decay and the coincident characteristic Xe K<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mi>α</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> and K<span><math><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><mi>β</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> X-rays and those events associated with the beta decay from the ground state of <sup>133</sup>Xe to excited states in the <sup>133</sup>Cs daughter nucleus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20861,"journal":{"name":"Radiation Physics and Chemistry","volume":"233 ","pages":"Article 112703"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Radiation Physics and Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969806X25001951","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The conditions under which nuclear fission occurs affects the ratio of radio-xenon isotopes and their metastable states which are produced. Measuring the ratio can be used to monitor the condition of nuclear fuel through its life span. This conference paper presents preliminary results from the testing of an electron–photon coincidence system at resolving signals from two isotopes of radio-xenon compared to the background. The detector system is comprised of a PIPSBox silicon detector and a high-purity germanium detector, with signals from both detectors processed using a 500 MHz CAEN digitiser. The system was tested using a mixed gaseous source containing

^{131 m}

Xe (t

_{1 / 2}

=11.84(4) days) and ¹³³Xe (t

_{1 / 2}

=5.25475(5) days). The preliminary results show a clear separation between events associated with the discrete-energy internal conversion lines associated with the

^{131 m}

Xe decay and the coincident characteristic Xe K

_{α}

and K

_{β}

X-rays and those events associated with the beta decay from the ground state of ¹³³Xe to excited states in the ¹³³Cs daughter nucleus.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Radiation Physics and Chemistry 化学-核科学技术

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

17.20%

发文量

574

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Radiation Physics and Chemistry is a multidisciplinary journal that provides a medium for publication of substantial and original papers, reviews, and short communications which focus on research and developments involving ionizing radiation in radiation physics, radiation chemistry and radiation processing. The journal aims to publish papers with significance to an international audience, containing substantial novelty and scientific impact. The Editors reserve the rights to reject, with or without external review, papers that do not meet these criteria. This could include papers that are very similar to previous publications, only with changed target substrates, employed materials, analyzed sites and experimental methods, report results without presenting new insights and/or hypothesis testing, or do not focus on the radiation effects.