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- Erzurumluoglu, A. Mesut, et al.
(author)
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Meta-analysis of up to 622,409 individuals identifies 40 novel smoking behaviour associated genetic loci
- 2020
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In: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 25:10, s. 2392-2409
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Smoking is a major heritable and modifiable risk factor for many diseases, including cancer, common respiratory disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Fourteen genetic loci have previously been associated with smoking behaviour-related traits. We tested up to 235,116 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) on the exome-array for association with smoking initiation, cigarettes per day, pack-years, and smoking cessation in a fixed effects meta-analysis of up to 61 studies (up to 346,813 participants). In a subset of 112,811 participants, a further one million SNVs were also genotyped and tested for association with the four smoking behaviour traits. SNV-trait associations with P < 5 × 10-8 in either analysis were taken forward for replication in up to 275,596 independent participants from UK Biobank. Lastly, a meta-analysis of the discovery and replication studies was performed. Sixteen SNVs were associated with at least one of the smoking behaviour traits (P < 5 × 10-8) in the discovery samples. Ten novel SNVs, including rs12616219 near TMEM182, were followed-up and five of them (rs462779 in REV3L, rs12780116 in CNNM2, rs1190736 in GPR101, rs11539157 in PJA1, and rs12616219 near TMEM182) replicated at a Bonferroni significance threshold (P < 4.5 × 10-3) with consistent direction of effect. A further 35 SNVs were associated with smoking behaviour traits in the discovery plus replication meta-analysis (up to 622,409 participants) including a rare SNV, rs150493199, in CCDC141 and two low-frequency SNVs in CEP350 and HDGFRP2. Functional follow-up implied that decreased expression of REV3L may lower the probability of smoking initiation. The novel loci will facilitate understanding the genetic aetiology of smoking behaviour and may lead to the identification of potential drug targets for smoking prevention and/or cessation.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Simulation of the response of a segmented High-Purity Germanium detector for gamma emission tomography of nuclear fuel
- 2020
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In: SN Applied Sciences. - : Springer. - 2523-3963 .- 2523-3971. ; 2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Irradiation testing of nuclear fuel is routinely performed in nuclear test reactors. For qualification and licensing of Accident Tolerant Fuels or Generation IV reactor fuels, an extensive increase in irradiation testing is foreseen in order to fill the gaps of existing validation data, both in normal operational conditions and in order to identify operational limits.Gamma Emission Tomography (GET) has been demonstrated as a viable technique for studies of the behavior of irradiated nuclear fuel, e.g. measurement of fission gas release and inspection of fuel behavior under Loss-Of-Coolant Accident conditions. In this work, the aim is to improve the technique of GET for irradiated nuclear fuel by developing a detector concept for an improved tomography system that allows for a higher spatial resolution and/or faster interrogation.We present the working principles of a novel concept for gamma emission tomography using a segmented High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. The performance of this concept was investigated using the Monte Carlo particle transport code MCNP. In particular, the data analysis of the proposed detector was evaluated, and the performance, in terms of full energy efficiency and localization failure rate, has been evaluated.We concluded that the segmented HPGe detector has an advantageous performance as compared to the traditional single-channel detector systems. Due to the scattering nature of gamma rays, a trade-off is presented between efficiency and cross-talk; however, the performance is nevertheless a substantial improvement over the currently used single-channel HPGe detector systems.
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| 3. |
- Atak, Haluk, et al.
(author)
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The degradation of gamma-ray mass attenuation of UOX and MOX fuel with nuclear burnup
- 2020
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In: Progress in nuclear energy (New series). - : Elsevier BV. - 0149-1970 .- 1878-4224. ; 125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometry of nuclear fuel is routinely performed in axial gamma scanning devices and more recently with gamma emission tomography. Following the irradiation of a fresh nuclear fuel with high intensity neutron flux in a nuclear reactor core, a great number of gamma-emitting radionuclides are created. These can be utilized for gamma spectrometric techniques. However, due to the high density and atomic number of the nuclear fuel, self-attenuation of gamma-rays is a challenge, which requires attenuation correction in order to perform accurate analysis of the source activity in the fuel.In this study, the degradation of the gamma-ray mass attenuation with burnup was investigated and, in addition, a predictive model was created by investigating the attenuation change at various gamma energies caused by the burnup of the nuclear fuel. This model is intended for use by spectrometry practitioners inspecting nuclear fuel. To this aim, the energy-dependent gamma-ray mass-attenuation coefficients were investigated as a function of burnup for UOX, and three MOX fuels having different initial Pu contents. The Serpent 2 reactor physics code was used to simulate the burnup history of the fuel pins. The nuclide inventory of the Serpent 2 output is combined with the NIST XCOM database to calculate the mass attenuation coefficients.The mass attenuation coefficient of the fuel was found to decrease with the fuel burnup, in the range of a few percent, depending on the burnup and gamma energy. Also, a theoretical burnup dependent swelling model was imposed on fuel density to see how linear attenuation coefficient of fuel material is changed. Furthermore, greater effect may be expected on the transmitted intensity, where a simulation study of a PWR assembly revealed that the contribution from the inner rods in a scanned fuel assembly increased by tens of percent compared to the one with non-irradiated fresh fuels, when shielded by the outer rods of the assembly. A sensitivity analysis was performed in order to test the effect of a number of geometrical and operational reactor parameters that were considered to potentially effect the mass attenuation coefficient. Finally, a simple-to-use predictive model was constructed providing the mass-attenuation coefficient [cm2/g] of fuel as a function of burnup [MWd/kgHM] and initial Pu content [wt%]. The resulting predictive model was optimized by using the nonlinear regression method.
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| 4. |
- Jansson, Peter, 1971-, et al.
(author)
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A new methodology for thermal analysis of geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel using integrated simulations of gamma heating and finite element modeling
- 2022
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In: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 172
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new methodology is illustrated, where the evolution of temperature in a geological disposal system for spent nuclear fuel is estimated by integrated calculations of a spatially distributed gamma heating source with conventional finite element thermal transport modeling. A case with one canister loaded with fuel assemblies with a cooling time of 30 years in a KBS-3 type repository illustrates the methodology. For this particular case, the effect of including distributed gamma heating rate in the modeling has a small impact on the temperature distribution compared to the conventional case of heat generated locally in the canister, resulting in a small decrease of the maximum temperature in the canister. A large proportion of gamma heating occurs inside the outer boundary of the copper canister for this case. Other potential consequences of radiation escaping the canister are discussed.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Jansson, Peter, et al.
(author)
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Blind Benchmark Exercise for Spent Nuclear Fuel Decay Heat
- 2022
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In: Nuclear science and engineering. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0029-5639 .- 1943-748X. ; 196:9, s. 1125-1145
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The decay heat rate of five spent nuclear fuel assemblies of the pressurized water reactor type were measured by calorimetry at the interim storage for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden. Calculations of the decay heat rate of the five assemblies were performed by 20 organizations using different codes and nuclear data libraries resulting in 31 results for each assembly, spanning most of the current state-of-the-art practice. The calculations were based on a selected subset of information, such as reactor operating history and fuel assembly properties. The relative difference between the measured and average calculated decay heat rate ranged from 0.6% to 3.3% for the five assemblies. The standard deviation of these relative differences ranged from 1.9% to 2.4%.
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| 9. |
- Rathore, Vikram, et al.
(author)
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Calculation of Spatial Response of a Collimated Segmented HPGe detector for Gamma Emission Tomography by MCNP Simulations
- 2022
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In: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 0018-9499 .- 1558-1578. ; 69:4, s. 714-721
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have proposed a planar electronically segmented HPGe detector concept in combination with a multi-slit collimator for gamma emission tomography. In this work, the spatial resolution achievable by using the collimated segmented HPGe detector was evaluated, prior to the manufacture and operation of the detector. The spatial response of a collimated segmented HPGe detector concept was evaluated using simulations performed with Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code MCNP6. The full detector and multi-slit collimator system were modeled and for the quantification of the spatial response, the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) was chosen as a performance metric. The MTF curve was obtained through the calculation of the Line Spread Function (LSF) by analyzing simulated projection data. In addition, tomographic reconstructions of the simulated simplified test objects were made to demonstrate the performance of the segmented HPGe detector in the planned application. For 662 keV photons, the spatial resolution obtained was approximately the same as the collimator slit width for both 100 and 150 mm long collimators. The corresponding spatial resolution at 1596 keV photon energy was almost twice the slit width for 100 mm collimator, due to the partial penetration of the high-energy gamma rays through the collimator bulk. For a 150 mm long collimator, an improved resolution was obtained.
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| 10. |
- Rathore, Vikram, et al.
(author)
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Geometrical optimisation of a segmented HPGe detector for spectroscopic gamma emission tomography : A simulation study
- 2021
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In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 998
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Segmented coaxial HPGe (High Purity Germanium) detectors have recently been shown to be feasible for Gamma Emission Tomography (GET). This type of detector allows for a combination of high efficiency and high energy resolution in gamma spectrometry of irradiated nuclear fuel. The ultimate aim of developing segmented HPGe for GET measurements is to achieve a high spatial resolution to facilitate imaging of rod-internal features and interrogation of smaller irradiated fuel samples.In this work, we present the optimisation of a segmented HPGe detector through a simulation study using the Monte Carlo particle transport code MCNP. Constraints to each dimension of the detector were identified, from manufacturing limitations and requirements arising from the use of a finite-sized collimator slit. In particular, a relationship between the minimum inner radius of the coaxial detector and the segments azimuthal dimension was derived based on the identified constraints. Segment azimuthal and radial dimensions have been varied (based on the derived relationship between the azimuthal and radial dimension) and the full energy efficiency and misidentification rate were evaluated to obtain the optimal dimensions. The optimal ranges of the segment dimensions were determined.
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