System and method for stand-off monitoring of nuclear reactors using neutron detection
AssigneeAtomic Energy of Canada Limited/éNergie Atomique Du Canada LimitéE
InventorsBryan van der Ende, Bhaskar Sur
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Abstract
A system for monitoring fissile material contents inside of a nuclear reactor can include at least a first neutron detector positioned outside a radiation shield and configured to detect a plurality of neutrons originating from the reactor core and having passed through the radiation shield, and configured to generate a first output signal, and a controller communicably linked to the first neutron detector to receive the first output signal and a power output of the nuclear reactor.
Claims10
A system for monitoring fissile material contents inside of a nuclear reactor comprising a reactor core containing nuclear fuel material and a radiation shield, the system comprising:
- a) at least a first neutron detector positioned outside the radiation shield and configured to detect a plurality of neutrons originating from the reactor core and having passed through the radiation shield, and configured to generate a first output signal;
- b) a controller communicably linked to the first neutron detector to receive the first output signal and a power output of the nuclear reactor and wherein the controller is configured to compare the first output signal to a pre-determined, expected neutron flux value per unit reactor power and generate an alert if the first output signal differs from the expected value of neutron flux per unit reactor power.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.