WP4 – Muon imaging for innovative tomography of large volume and heterogeneous cemented waste packages

Objectives

The WP4 objective is to develop mobile muon tomography instrumentation to address the as-yet unsolved problem of the non-destructive assay (NDA) of large volume nuclear waste packages, such as large spent fuel casks and large concrete waste packages with heterogeneous waste.

Tasks

Task 4.1 is dedicated to the building of a suitable mobile muon detection system.          The work within this first task includes the following actions:

  • Adaptation of the designs of the existing prototypes to make them suitable for the large scale system and design of the mechanical support system.
  • Purchasing and building the components of the system.
  • Installation of all required services at Fenswood farm (a non-laboratory facility at the University of Bristol).
  • Testing the components and installation of the system.
  • Operating the system and evaluation of the performance.

Task 4.2 objective is to develop and adapt the software for muon tomography. This includes the following tasks:

  • Commencing the simulation study of the new system. At first, the simulation will focus on optimising the mechanical design.
  • Build a detailed Monte Carlo model of the cake slice drums and study the signals obtained from various materials embedded in the drums in the simulation.
  • Insert known pieces of materials at known locations in the drum. Take data with the system and use the reconstruction algorithms that were developed in the Monte Carlo study to find and identify them.

Task 4.3 will produce and assemble test drum for non-active and active qualification experiments and commissioning. This includes the following tasks:

  • Two non-active drums will be produced with content known to them only. The content will be based on the requirements and needs of waste management organisations.
  • Data will be taken with the first drum and the reconstructed contents will be compared with the actual contents. Any deviations will be identified and algorithms updated.
  • Data will be taken with the second drum and contents will be compared.

Task 4.4 is dedicated to real waste drum muon tomography demonstration. This includes the following tasks:

  • Identify nuclear waste storage facilities where the system will be demonstrated.
  • The scanner will be transported to and operated at one or more facilities to characterize some real, large waste containers.

Deliverables

D4.1      Report detailing the performance of the detector system
D4.2      Report on the performance of the system reconstructing known blocks of material
D4.3      Report on the tuned algorithms and their performance
D4.4      Hot test results
D4.5      WP4 final report

Partners involved

Leader: UNIVBRIS
Contributors: SCK•CEN, FZK, USFD, WUT

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