PhD course: Nuclear radiation detection

Nuclear radiation detection: principles and applications from today to tomorrow

Lecturers:   Prof. Dr. Abdallah Lyoussi, CEA, Cadarache, France

                     Prof. Dr. Markus Olin, VTT, Espoo, Finland

Language:   English

Person in charge: Prof. Dr. Anouar Belahcen, Aalto University, School of Electrical Engineering.

This course will deal with nuclear radiation detection and measurement. Starting from the physical principles, the course will discuss the performances and the limitations of various radiation detectors that can be used in nuclear reactors, nuclear fuel cycle, for safeguards and homeland security. Specific applications will illustrate the practical applications of the detection techniques: nuclear monitoring of the fuel cycle and radioactive wastes (passive and active neutron measurements, sensing via photofission, coupling of measurements and combined interpretation).

Instrumentation and measurement methods in nuclear environments are key aspects that contribute to the quality of scientific and technological programs in the fields of physics, energy, nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management.

A sustainable nuclear energy requires research on fuel and material behaviour under irradiation with a high level of performances in order to meet the following needs:

• Constant improvement of the performances and safety of present and coming water cooled reactor technologies, taking into account the lifetime extension and the progressive launch of generation III, nuclear power plants. These plants will require a continuous R&D support following a long-term trend driven by the plant life management, safety demonstration, flexibility and economics improvement.
• Fuel technology in present and future nuclear power plants is continuously upgraded to achieve better performances and to optimise the fuel cycle, still keeping the best level of safety. Fuel evolution for generation II and III is and will stay a key stake requiring developments, qualification tests and safety experiments to ensure the competitiveness and safety.
• To meet nuclear energy sustainable development objectives in the resources and waste management, generation IV reactors are mandatory and require innovative materials and fuels.

To perform such accurate and innovative progress and developments, specific and ad hoc instrumentation, irradiation devices, and measurement methods are necessary to be set up inside or beside the reactor core. These experiments require beforehand in situ and on-line sophisticated measurements.

On the other hand, a final repository for spent nuclear fuel has a major demand to restrict the release and transport of radionuclides below the limits specifically given to different barriers and time scales by authorities. It is the duty of waste producer to design the repository in a way these limits and other possible demands are fulfilled in all time scales.

This course will deal with the above issues and handle them from both theoretical and practical points of view. The course offers also theoretical calculations and computer simulations. 

Pre requisites:   Basics in Physics and Mathematics

Assessment:      Presence (30%), Calculation Exercises (30%), Learning diaries (40%)

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course the students will be able to describe the principles of nuclear instrumentation and perform analysis of measured data. Further, the students will be acquainted with the detectors used in nuclear power generation and nuclear waste treatment.

Enrolments:    http://users.tkk.fi/abelahce/application.html

Course info and program:   Course info.pdf