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Presentation Type
Presentation
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
George Hitt and Braden Goddard, Physics and Engineering Science
Major
Engineering Science
Second Major
Applied Physics
Presentation Abstract
This research focuses on safeguards issues regarding thorium-based nuclear reactors. The Th-232 in the reactors is converted into Th-233. The Th-233 decays to Pa-233, which later decays to U-233. Pa-233 is not a safeguarded material, and therefore could possibly be diverted out of the reactor to produce unmonitored U-233. Pa-232 and Pa-234 are also produced in the reactor and decay to U-232 and U-234, respectively. Because Pa-232 and Pa-234 have shorter half-lives than Pa-233, the Pa-233 will make up the largest protactinium percentage over time. If the decayed uranium is separated from the Pa-233, this will lead to more purified U-233 once the Pa-233 decays. To better understand the mixed protactinium gamma radiation sources, three isotopes are modeled using Monte Carlo based radiation transport with spectral results then being fed into a spreadsheet tool to create a visualization of the spectra. This tool can facilitate improvements in nonproliferation and safeguards.
Location
Virtual Session Room 1
Start Date
22-4-2021 2:00 PM
End Date
22-4-2021 2:20 PM
Recommended Citation
Davis, Victoria, "Investigation of Potential Protactinium Safeguards Vulnerabilities for Thorium Fuel Cycles" (2021). Undergraduate Research Competition. 39.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2021/fullconference/39
Investigation of Potential Protactinium Safeguards Vulnerabilities for Thorium Fuel Cycles
Virtual Session Room 1
This research focuses on safeguards issues regarding thorium-based nuclear reactors. The Th-232 in the reactors is converted into Th-233. The Th-233 decays to Pa-233, which later decays to U-233. Pa-233 is not a safeguarded material, and therefore could possibly be diverted out of the reactor to produce unmonitored U-233. Pa-232 and Pa-234 are also produced in the reactor and decay to U-232 and U-234, respectively. Because Pa-232 and Pa-234 have shorter half-lives than Pa-233, the Pa-233 will make up the largest protactinium percentage over time. If the decayed uranium is separated from the Pa-233, this will lead to more purified U-233 once the Pa-233 decays. To better understand the mixed protactinium gamma radiation sources, three isotopes are modeled using Monte Carlo based radiation transport with spectral results then being fed into a spreadsheet tool to create a visualization of the spectra. This tool can facilitate improvements in nonproliferation and safeguards.