Abstract
Methods for the non-destructive assay of nuclear waste drums are of great importance to the nuclear waste management community, especially where loss in continuity of knowledge about the content of drums happened or chemical processes altering the contents of the drums may occur. Muon scattering tomography has been shown to be a promising technique for the non-destructive assay of nuclear waste drums in a safe way. By measuring tracks of muons entering and leaving the probed sample and extracting scattering angles from the tracks, it is possible to draw conclusions about the contents of the sample and its spatial arrangement. Within the CHANCE project, a newly built large-scale mobile detector system for scanning and imaging the contents of nuclear waste drums using atmospheric muons is currently undergoing commissioning.
Highlights
Non-destructive methods to assay nuclear waste drums are of great interest to the nuclear waste management community
It has been observed that chemical processes like oxidation of metals may occur within drums, possibly leading to the formation of gas bubbles or cracks
Muon scattering tomography is a non-destructive technology well suited to investigate the contents of nuclear waste drums in a safe way, without introducing any additional radiation to the samples or personnel
Summary
Non-destructive methods to assay nuclear waste drums are of great interest to the nuclear waste management community. It has been observed that chemical processes like oxidation of metals may occur within drums, possibly leading to the formation of gas bubbles or cracks. Knowledge about the contents of legacy waste drums is not always preserved. Muon scattering tomography (MST) is a promising technique to address these problems. It allows to scan and image nuclear waste drums in a safe, non-destructive way using natural background radiation. Compared to other methods like Xray or gamma-ray scanning it does not introduce additional artificial radiation or any additional hazards to personnel or equipment. Fitting the tracks of muons entering and leaving the probed sample allows to reconstruct approximated scattering vertices and to e.g. differentiate between various materials
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
