Numerical solution of a parameter estimation problem arising in Prompt-Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis

Applied Mathematics in Science and Engineering, vol. 32

Abstract

We study a parameter estimation problem which arises from measurements with QUANTOM, a measurement facility utilizing Prompt-Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) to analyze elemental masses in 200-l nuclear waste drums.The presence of neutron flux measurements in QUANTOM offers additional information for elemental composition reconstruction, motivating an alternative to the standard iterative approach.Therefore, the measurement is modelled using approximate models for neutron and photon transport.We introduce a mathematical formulation for solving the resulting parameter estimation problem of QUANTOM measurements and employ an adjoint-based method to determine the elemental composition.Uniqueness of solutions in this context is studied, and the results offer novel insights for PGNAA applications.

Authors 3

1. Alexander Jesser corresponding

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training

   Affiliation as printed

   Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training GmbH

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

   Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training GmbH, Stolberg (Rhld.), Germany

   Scientific Computing Center (SCC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

2. Kai Krycki Aachen Department of Aerospace Engineering

   FH Aachen · Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training

   Affiliation as printed

   Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training GmbH

   FH Aachen – University of Applied Sciences

   Aachen Institute for Nuclear Training GmbH, Stolberg (Rhld.), Germany

   Department of Aerospace Engineering, FH Aachen – University of Applied Sciences, Aachen, Germany

3. Martin Frank

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

   Scientific Computing Center (SCC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany