Camille Bélanger-Champagne

Bio: Camille Bélanger-Champagne is an academic researcher from Helsinki Institute of Physics. The author has contributed to research in topics: Neutron & Tomography. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 9 publications receiving 46 citations. Previous affiliations of Camille Bélanger-Champagne include University of Helsinki & University of British Columbia.

Simultaneous reconstruction of emission and attenuation in passive gamma emission tomography of spent nuclear fuel

Abstract: In the context of international nuclear safeguards, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has recently approved passive gamma emission tomography (PGET) as a method for inspecting spent nuclear fuel assemblies (SFAs). The PGET instrument is essentially a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system that allows the reconstruction of axial cross-sections of the emission map of an SFA. The fuel material heavily self-attenuates its gamma-ray emissions, so that correctly accounting for the attenuation is a critical factor in producing accurate images. Due to the nature of the inspections, it is desirable to use as little a priori information as possible about the fuel, including the attenuation map, in the reconstruction process. Current reconstruction methods either do not correct for attenuation, assume a uniform attenuation throughout the fuel assembly, or assume an attenuation map based on an initial filtered back-projection reconstruction. We propose a method to simultaneously reconstruct the emission and attenuation maps by formulating the reconstruction as a constrained minimization problem with a least squares data fidelity term and regularization terms. Using simulated data, we show that our approach produces clear reconstructions which allow for a highly reliable classification of spent, missing, and fresh fuel rods.

Effect of Gamma-Ray Energy on Image Quality in Passive Gamma Emission Tomography of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Abstract: Gamma-ray images of VVER-440 and SVEA-96 spent nuclear fuel assemblies were reconstructed using the filtered backprojection algorithm from measurements with a passive gamma emission tomography prototype instrument at Finnish nuclear power plants. Image quality evaluation criteria based on line profiles through the reconstructed image are used to evaluate image quality for spent fuel assemblies with different cooling times, and thus different mixtures of gamma-ray emitting isotopes. Image characteristics at the locations of water channels and central fuel pins are compared in two gamma-ray energy windows, 600–700 and >700 keV, for cooling times up to 10 years for SVEA-96 fuel and 24.5 years for VVER-440 fuel. For SVEA-96 fuel, images in the >700-keV gamma-ray energy window present better water-to-fuel contrast for all investigated cooling times. For VVER-440, images in the >700-keV gamma-ray energy window have higher water-to-fuel contrast up to and including a cooling time of 18.5 years, whereas the water-to-fuel contrast of the images taken in the two gamma-ray energy windows is equivalent for a cooling time of 24.5 years. Images reconstructed from higher energy gamma rays such as those in the >700-keV energy window present better water-to-fuel contrast in fuel cooled for up to 20 years and thus have the most potential for missing fuel pin detection.

Measuring spent fuel assembly multiplication in borated water with a passive neutron albedo reactivity instrument

Abstract: The performance of a passive neutron albedo reactivity (PNAR) instrument to measure neutron multiplication of spent nuclear fuel in borated water is investigated as part of an integrated non-destructive assay safeguards system. To measure the PNAR Ratio, which is proportional to the neutron multiplication, the total neutron count rate is measured in high- and low-multiplying environments by the PNAR instrument. The integrated system also contains a load cell and a passive gamma emission tomograph, and as such meets all the recommendations of the IAEA’s recent ASTOR Experts Group report. A virtual spent fuel library for VVER-440 fuel was used in conjunction with MCNP simulations of the PNAR instrument to estimate the measurement uncertainties from (1) variation in the water boron content, (2) assembly positioning in the detector and (3) counting statistics. The estimated aggregate measurement uncertainty on the PNAR Ratio measurement is 0.008, to put this uncertainty in context, the difference in the PNAR Ratio between a fully irradiated assembly and this same assembly when fissile isotopes only absorb neutrons, but do not emit neutrons, is 0.106, a 13-sigma effect. The 1-sigma variation of 0.008 in the PNAR Ratio is estimated to correspond to a 3.2 GWd/tU change in assembly burnup.

Simultaneous Reconstruction of Emission and Attenuation in Passive Gamma Emission Tomography of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Abstract: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has recently approved passive gamma emission tomography (PGET) as a method for inspecting spent nuclear fuel assemblies (SFAs), an important aspect of international nuclear safeguards which aim at preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The PGET instrument is essentially a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system that allows the reconstruction of axial cross-sections of the emission map of the SFA. The fuel material heavily self-attenuates its gamma-ray emissions, so that correctly accounting for the attenuation is a critical factor in producing accurate images. Due to the nature of the inspections, it is desirable to use as little a priori information as possible about the fuel, including the attenuation map, in the reconstruction process. Current reconstruction methods either do not correct for attenuation, assume a uniform attenuation throughout the fuel assembly, or assume an attenuation map based on an initial filtered back projection (FBP) reconstruction. Here, we propose a method to simultaneously reconstruct the emission and attenuation maps by formulating the reconstruction as a constrained minimization problem with a least squares data fidelity term and regularization terms. Using simulated data, we compare the proposed method to FBP, showing that our approach produces significantly better reconstructions by various numerical metrics and a much better classification of spent, missing, and fresh fuel rods.

Improved Gamma-Ray Point Source Quantification in Three Dimensions by Modeling Attenuation in the Scene

Abstract: Using a series of detector measurements taken at different locations to localize a source of radiation is a well-studied problem. The source of radiation is sometimes constrained to a single point-like source, in which case the location of the point source can be found using techniques such as maximum likelihood. Recent advancements have shown the ability to locate point sources in 2-D and even 3-D but few have studied the effect of intervening material on the problem. In this work, we examine gamma-ray data taken from a freely moving system and develop voxelized 3-D models of the scene using data from its onboard light detection and ranging (LiDAR) unit. Ray casting is used to compute the distance each gamma ray travels through the scene material, which is then used to calculate attenuation assuming a single attenuation coefficient for solids within the geometry. Parameter estimation using maximum likelihood is performed to simultaneously find the attenuation coefficient, source activity, and source position that best match the data. Using a simulation, we validate the ability of this method to reconstruct the true location and activity of a source, along with the true attenuation coefficient of the structure it is inside, and then we apply the method to measured data with sources and find good agreement.