NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF URANIUM AND OR PLUTONIUM USING X-RAY (K-BAND OR L-BAND) FLUORESCENCE EXCITED BY SEALED SOURCES OR X-RAY TUBES/

Uranium, plutonium and, more generally, high atomic number elements ca n be analyzed by excitation of their K or L X-rays by sealed sources o r by X-ray tubes. The Radionuclides Application Branch of the CEA Ioni zing Radiation Metrology and Applications Department has designed seve ral industrial prototypes for non-destructive analysis of actinides at different nuclear fuel cycle stages in various matrices: e.g., ores, reprocessing solutions, mixed oxide fuel pellets. These prototypes are under development to improve their performances and to adapt them to on-line analysis. In this paper, we describe the general principles an d the instrumentation associated with these systems.