Estimation of isotopic composition of plutonium from thermal reactors by neutron coincidence counting through isotopic correlation technique

Correlations have been established between %Eff ²⁴⁰Pu and various plutonium isotopes formed in thermal reactors. Based on these correlations, a method has been developed for the estimation of isotopic composition of plutonium obtained from thermal reactors. The method is simple, fast, non-destructive and finds application for the verification of plutonium isotopic composition in the finished products of known plutonium content. The method could be applied in the nuclear fuel fabrication to verify and confirm the fissile content (²³⁹Pu+²⁴¹Pu) specification. It has also been shown that in principle, similar correlations could be established for Pu obtained from different thermal reactor fuels with reactor specific fitting parameters.