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Undeclared uranium hitches a ride on cobalt exports from Congo, study says
Philippe (left) and Manzuk quantified the amount of uranium that has been exported from the DRC in cobalt shipments or left behind in the environment. (Photo: Joel Hallberg/UW–Madison)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University have published a study in Nature Communications that calls attention to a blind spot in nuclear nonproliferation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exported thousands of metric tons of uranium, and there is no accounting for where it has gone.
In partnership with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, UW–Madison nuclear engineering professor and nuclear security expert Sébastien Philippe and Ryan Manzuk, a geologist and research fellow in Philippe’s group and at Princeton, conducted the study using countrywide mineralization and geochemical data.
R. Luis, J. Bermudez, J. C. David, D. Ene, I. F. Goncalves, Y. Kadi, C. Kharoua, F. Negoita, R. Rocca, Y. Romanets, L. Tecchio, P. Vaz
Nuclear Technology | Volume 175 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 445-449
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A12315
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The EURopean Isotope Separation On-Line Radioactive Ion Beam (EURISOL) project aims at building a facility to produce radioactive ion beams with intensities two to three orders of magnitude higher than those presently available. A 4-MW (1-GeV, 4-mA) proton beam hits a liquid mercury converter, generating, by spallation reactions, high neutron fluxes that induce fission in surrounding fissile targets. In this work, Monte Carlo calculations of dose rate and activation were carried out to identify the necessary shielding and access restrictions for each section of the facility, including maintenance, storage, and remote control spaces. These calculations allowed an optimization of the materials chosen for the assembly, based on the radioprotection issues, while taking into account the desired performance of the system. The results of the design studies indicate that the intended performance parameters (namely neutron fluxes, fission rates, and easy fission target manipulation) of the EURISOL multimegawatt target station are in reach. The safety analysis indicates that some regions of the facility need special attention from the safety and radioprotection points of view.