Total Measurement Uncertainty (TMU) in neutron assays of transuranic waste (TRU) are comprised of several components including counting statistics, matrix and source distribution, calibration inaccuracy, background effects, and neutron multiplication error. While a minor component for low plutonium masses, neutron multiplication error is often the major contributor to the TMU for items containing more than 140 g of weapons grade plutonium. Neutron multiplication arises when neutrons from spontaneous fission and other nuclear events induce fissions in other fissile isotopes in the waste, thereby multiplying the overall coincidence neutron response in passive neutron measurements. Since passive neutron counters cannot differentiate between spontaneous and induced fission neutrons, multiplication can lead to positive bias in the measurements. Although neutron multiplication can only result in a positive bias, it has, for the purpose of mathematical simplicity, generally been treated as an error that can lead to either a positive or negative result in the TMU. While the factors that contribute to neutron multiplication include the total mass of fissile nuclides, the presence of moderating material in the matrix, the concentration and geometry of the fissile sources, and other factors; measurement uncertainty is generally determined as a function of the fissile mass in most TMU software calculations because this is the only quantity determined by the passive neutron measurement. Neutron multiplication error has a particularly pernicious consequence for TRU waste analysis because the measured Fissile Gram Equivalent (FGE) plus twice the TMU error must be less than 200 for TRU waste packaged in 55-gal drums and less than 325 for boxed waste. For this reason, large errors due to neutron multiplication can lead to increased rejections of TRU waste containers. This report will attempt to better define the error term due to neutron multiplication and arrive at values that are more realistic and accurate. To do so, measurements of standards and waste drums were performed with High Efficiency Neutron Counters (HENC) located at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The data were analyzed for multiplication effects and new estimates of the multiplication error were computed. A concluding section will present alternatives for reducing the number of rejections of TRU waste containers due to neutron multiplication error.

Over the past decade significant progress has been achieved in the development of waste characterization and control procedures and equipment as a direct response to ever-increasing requirements for quality and reliability of information on waste characteristics. Failure in control procedures at any step can have important, adverse consequences and may result in producing waste packages which are not compliant with the waste acceptance criteria for disposal, thereby adversely impacting the repository. The information and guidance included in this publication corresponds to recent achievements and reflects the optimum approaches, thereby reducing the potential for error and enhancing the quality of the end product. -- Publisher's description.

In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued an Interim Report evaluating the general viability of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE-NNSA's) conceptual plans for disposing of 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It provided a preliminary assessment of the general viability of DOE-NNSA's conceptual plans, focused on some of the barriers to their implementation. This final report addresses the remaining issues and echoes the recommendations from the interim study.