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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Hot Fuel Examination Facility named a Nuclear Historic Landmark
The American Nuclear Society recently announced the designation of three new nuclear historic landmarks: the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), the Neely Nuclear Research Center, and the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Today’s article, the first in a three-part series, will focus on the historical significance of HFEF.
Ingvar Matsson, Björn Grapengiesser, Peter Jansson, Ane Håkansson, Anders Bäcklin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 122 | Number 3 | June 1998 | Pages 276-283
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2869
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Poolside measurements of fission gas release (FGR) in fuel pins have been made using gamma-ray spectroscopy with a Ge detector, measuring 85Kr activity in the fuel rod plenum. The gamma-ray energy spectra from irradiated nuclear fuel are characterized by prominent Compton distributions that can obscure the weak 514-keV 85Kr peak. To improve the sensitivity, the detector has been provided with an anti-Compton shield of six Bi3Ge4O12 detectors. Laboratory tests of the detector system showed that the maximum peak-to-Compton (p/c) ratio was improved by a factor of ~6. The results of the poolside measurement p/c ratio showed a somewhat smaller improvement (a factor of ~4) because of scattered gamma radiation from the surrounding material. However, the precision in the poolside FGR measurements was improved substantially utilizing the Compton shield.
