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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
R. B. Walton, T. D. Reilly, J. L. Parker, J. H. Menzel, E. D. Marshall, L. W. Fields
Nuclear Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | February 1974 | Pages 133-148
Technical Paper | Instrument | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31369
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The applicability of portable instruments for rapid nondestructive verification of the enrichment of UF6 in cylinders has been tested on a large number of Types-30 and -5A cylinders. Three basic techniques were used: (a) gamma-ray counting with Nal, combined with ultrasonic measurement of cylinder wall thickness, (b) passive-neutron counting, and (c) active-neutron interrogation with thermal neutrons from a radioactive neutron source. The accuracy of the gamma-ray method was ∼5% (1σ) for Type-30 cylinders of UF6 and 2% for highly enriched UF6 in Type-5A cylinders; however, the method occasionally failed for Type-30 cylinders because of background from nonvolatile daughters of 238U plated on the cylinder walls. The standard deviation of enrichments of 110 Type-30 cylinders, derived from passive-neutron counting data by assuming a constant 235U/234U ratio, is The response of the active system increases almost linearly with enrichment up to ∼2.5% 235U and then saturates at ∼4%.