SiLiF Neutron Counters to Monitor Nuclear Materials in the MICADO Project

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 8; p. 2630
• Main Authors: Cosentino, Luigi, Ducasse, Quentin, Giuffrida, Martina, Lo Meo, Sergio, Longhitano, Fabio, Marchetta, Carmelo, Massara, Antonio, Pappalardo, Alfio, Passaro, Giuseppe, Russo, Salvatore, Finocchiaro, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08-04-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Actinides; Carbon fibers; Charged particles; Diodes; Efficiency; Energy; Gamma rays; Gas detectors; Monitoring; Monte Carlo simulation; Neutron counters; neutron detectors; Neutrons; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear fuels; Polyethylenes; Radiation; Radioactive waste disposal; radwaste management; radwaste monitoring; Silicon; Spent nuclear fuels; Thermal neutrons; Waste management; neutron detectors; radwaste monitoring; radwaste management
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21082630

In the framework of the MICADO (Measurement and Instrumentation for Cleaning And Decommissioning Operations) European Union (EU) project, aimed at the full digitization of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste management, a set of 32 solid state thermal neutron detectors named SiLiF has been built and characterized. MICADO encompasses a complete active and passive characterization of the radwaste drums with neutrons and gamma rays, followed by a longer-term monitoring phase. The SiLiF detectors are suitable for the monitoring of nuclear materials and can be used around radioactive waste drums possibly containing small quantities of actinides, as well as around spent fuel casks in interim storage or during transportation. Suitable polyethylene moderators can be exploited to better shape the detector response to the expected neutron spectrum, according to Monte Carlo simulations that were performed. These detectors were extensively tested with an AmBe neutron source, and the results show a quite uniform and reproducible behavior.