Abstract
Over the past decade, considerable resources have been applied to investigate verification of used nuclear fuel assemblies for international safeguards. The opportunity to expand the available data used to validate these verification techniques was presented in 2016 by the High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, which made 25 high-burnup pressurized water reactor used fuel rods available for measurement in the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With the support of the National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, a 2017 campaign measured the 25 used fuel rods with a high-resolution gamma spectrometer. A planar high-purity germanium detector was used to provide high-efficiency across an energy range from 60 keV to 3 MeV. Gamma spectra of individual fuel rods were collected in 4.5 mm steps along the entire length of each rod. In addition, spectra were collected on select rods in rotational increments of 30 degrees to provide data on the distribution of fission products along the rod perimeter. The spectra are stored on a controlled-access website for use by others. This paper describes the measurement geometry, used fuel rod characteristics, example spectra, and preliminary analyses performed during the measurement campaign.
