H. Chateauvieux et al., FULLY AUTOMATED LABORATORY FOR THE ASSAY OF PLUTONIUM IN WASTES AND RECOVERABLE SCRAPS, Chemometrics and intelligent laboratory systems, 26(2), 1994, pp. 129-135
To perform the plutonium balance of a reprocessing unit, a laboratory
has been specially designed for non-destructive determination of pluto
nium in wastes and recoverable scraps. The two different methods used
(calorimetry (two devices) and gamma-ray spectrometry (seven detectors
)), the different types (matrices, weight) and the number of products
to measure (8000 assays per year) have imposed a full automated labora
tory working 24 h per day and 365 days per year. We will describe the
installation and insist upon its specificity and performance. We will
also take stock of one year of working of the laboratory underlining t
he problems we have encountered.