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A novel method for gamma spectrum analysis of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste

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Abstract

The uncertainty of nuclide libraries in the analysis of the gamma spectra of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) using existing methods produces unstable results. To address this problem, a novel spectral analysis method is proposed in this study. In this method, overlap** peaks are located using a continuous wavelet transform. An improved quadratic convolution method is proposed to calculate the widths of the peaks and establish a fourth-order filter model to estimate the Compton edge baseline with the overlap** peaks. Combined with the adaptive sensitive nonlinear iterative peak, this method can effectively subtracts the background. Finally, a function describing the peak shape as a filter is used to deconvolve the energy spectrum to achieve accurate qualitative and quantitative analyses of the nuclide without the aid of a nuclide library. Gamma spectrum acquisition experiments for standard point sources of Cs-137 and Eu-152, a segmented gamma scanning experiment for a 200 L standard drum, and a Monte Carlo simulation experiment for triple overlap** peaks using the closest energy of three typical LILW nuclides (Sb-125, Sb-124, and Cs-134) are conducted. The results of the experiments indicate that (1) the novel method and gamma vision (GV) with an accurate nuclide library have the same spectral analysis capability, and the peak area calculation error is less than 4%; (2) compared with the GV, the analysis results of the novel method are more stable; (3) the novel method can be applied to the activity measurement of LILW, and the error of the activity reconstruction at the equivalent radius is 2.4%; and (4) The proposed novel method can quantitatively analyze all nuclides in LILW without a nuclide library. This novel method can improve the accuracy and precision of LILW measurements, provide key technical support for the reasonable disposal of LILW, and ensure the safety of humans and the environment.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Science Data Bank at https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.08126 and https://cstr.cn/31253.11.sciencedb.08126

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Hui Yang, **n-Yu Zhang, Wei-Guo Gu, Bing Dong, Xue-Zhi Jiang, Wen-Tao Zhou & De-Zhong Wang

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Hui Yang, **n-Yu Zhang, Wei-Guo Gu, Bing Dong, Xue-Zhi Jiang, Wen-Tao Zhou and De-Zhong Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hui Yang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wen-Tao Zhou or De-Zhong Wang.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12205190 and 11805121) and the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (No. 21ZR1435400).

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Yang, H., Zhang, XY., Gu, WG. et al. A novel method for gamma spectrum analysis of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. NUCL SCI TECH 34, 87 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-023-01236-w

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