Rapid non-destructive quantitative estimation of urania/ thoria in mixed thorium uranium di-oxide pellets by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry

Abstract A non-destructive technique using high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry has been standardised for quantitative estimation of uranium/thorium in mixed (ThO 2 –UO 2 ) fuel pellets of varying composition. Four gamma energies were selected; two each from the uranium and thorium series and the time of counting has been optimised. This technique can be used for rapid estimation of U/Th percentage in a large number of mixed fuel pellets from a production campaign.