Imaging of Actinide Nuclides using Neutron Resonance Absorption

In order to reduce the high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, a fast reactor system with trans-uranium (TRU) fuel is one of the option for nuclide transmutation technique. To establish the fast reactor system with TRU fuel, identification and quantification of the nuclides in the TRU fuel are required to regard safety and nuclear security. A non-destructive assessment method for a TRU fuel with high decay heat and high radioactivity is required. The neutron resonance absorption (NRA) imaging would be applicable to non-destructive assay of the TRU fuel with high radioactivity. In the present study, the NRA imaging with a 2-D position sensitive detector was applied to identify ²³⁸ U, ²³⁷ Np and ²⁴³ Am as samples. As the results, nuclide identified imaging was carried out successfully.