Abstract
A low-cost array of modular sensors for online monitoring of radioactive waste was developed at INFN-LNS. We implemented a new kind of gamma counter, based on Silicon PhotoMultipliers and scintillating fibers, that behaves like a cheap scintillating Geiger-Muller counter. It can be placed in shape of a fine grid around each single waste drum in a repository. Front-end electronics and an FPGA-based counting system were developed to handle the field data, also implementing data transmission, a graphical user interface and a data storage system. A test of four sensors in a real radwaste storage site was performed with promising results. Following the tests an agreement was signed between INFN and Sogin for the joint development and installation of a prototype DMNR (Detector Mesh for Nuclear Repository) system inside the Garigliano radwaste repository in Sessa Aurunca (CE, Italy). Such a development is currently under way, with the installation foreseen within 2014.
Highlights
Following the tests an agreement was signed between INFN and Sogin for the joint development and installation of a prototype Detector Mesh for Nuclear Repositories (DMNR) (Detector Mesh for Nuclear Repository) system inside the Garigliano radwaste repository in Sessa Aurunca (CE, Italy)
Among the many issues associated to the disposal of short and medium term radioactive waste worldwide produced, there is the storage inside suitable sites where a high level of safety must be guaranteed
The DMNR project has shown that a real time online monitoring system for radioactive waste is feasible
Summary
Among the many issues associated to the disposal of short and medium term radioactive waste worldwide produced, there is the storage inside suitable sites where a high level of safety must be guaranteed. Detector Mesh for Nuclear Repositories (DMNR) is a project for a prototype demonstrator of the online monitoring of short-medium term radioactive waste, currently under development at INFN-LNS Catania. Such a system is planned to be distributed, fine-grained, robust, reliable, and based on lowcost components, providing a 3-dimensional map of the radioactivity produced by the waste inside the storage area. Front-end electronics and an FPGA-based counting system were developed, in order to handle the data flow coming from the field sensors Such a system deals with the redundant data transmission toward a console with a graphical user interface and a data storage system. A robotic arm is being developed for remote ad-hoc inspection, both visual and by using high resolution radiation detectors; other operations around the waste drums should be possible using the same robotic arm
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