Analysis of adhesive tape activation during reactor flux measurements

Lindsey Jordan Bignell*, Michael Leslie Smith, Dimitri Alexiev, Seyed Reza Hashemi-Nezhad

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Several adhesive tapes have been studied in terms of their suitability for securing gold wires into positions for neutron flux measurements in the reactor core and irradiation facilities surrounding the core of the Open Pool Australian Light water (OPAL) reactor. Gamma ray spectrometry has been performed on each irradiated tape in order to identify and quantify activated components. Numerous metallic impurities have been identified in all tapes. Calculations relating to both the effective neutron shielding properties of the tapes and the error in measurement of the 198Au activity caused by superfluous activity due to residual tape have been made. The most important identified effects were the prolonged cooling times required before safe enough levels of radioactivity to allow handling were reached, and extra activity caused by residual tape when measured with an ionisation chamber. Knowledge of the most suitable tape can allow a minimal contribution due to these effects, and the use of gamma spectrometry in preference to ionisation chamber measurements of the flux wires is shown to make all systematic errors due to the tape completely negligible.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)93-98
    Number of pages6
    JournalNuclear Engineering and Technology
    Volume40
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Feb 2008

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