Speaker
Description
Under a collaboration known as Xenon and Environmental Radionuclide Analysis at Hartlepool (XENAH), an advanced gas-cooled nuclear reactor based in the UK has granted access to real-time monitoring data of the gaseous CO2 primary coolant. These data, partly intended to inform station operators as to the state of health of the core, represent a vast repository that may be further explored for nuclear explosion monitoring. Analysis of raw spectral data performed at the UK NDC shows the presence of CTBT-relevant fission and activation products within the coolant, including radioxenons, which if released into the atmosphere may be detected by air sampling networks such as the IMS. Characterising background sources of anthropogenic radionuclides (such as nuclear reactors) is therefore an important aspect of explosion monitoring. This work presents a comprehensive analysis of the in-core Gaseous Activity Monitoring (GAM) data, discusses trends in isotopic activities and activity ratios during full power operation and outage periods, and compares the results to those expected based on reactor physics simulations.
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