Hyperspectral imaging suggests potential for rapid quantification of fission products in spent nuclear fuel

An analysis of sintered uranium dioxide has been conducted using a hyperspectral camera sensitive to short-wave infrared wavelengths in the range 949-2472 nm. Three groups of sintered UO₂ nuclear fuel pellets were prepared and analysed, with stable sub-group surrogates introduced at the preparation stage to emulate the presence of fission product elements. Results show a clear, consistent, and reproducible spectral response across the pellet groups for pure UO₂. Furthermore, the addition of fission product elements is observed to affect the shortwave infrared response, causing an overall flattening of the spectra. We have shown that this spectral change is correlated significantly with the presence of lanthanides in the fuel matrix. This result could have important potential in post-irradiation examination for quantifying nuclear fuel burn-up and radiotoxicity at discharge, as the hyperspectral imaging setup allows multiple (> 20) samples to be analysed in a single image, captured in under 30 s.