Integrated test program for comparison of 10B lined proportional counting systems with 3He based counters for safeguards applications

To address the urgent need to find a viable
³
He replacement technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed an integrated test program for performance evaluation of
³
He replacement technologies with focus on safeguards specific parameters. In addition, a dedicated experimental setup was built to support the experimental activities. Current activity focuses on evaluation of
¹⁰
B lined proportional counters. This paper presents an overview of the test program as well as the first results from the GE/Reuter-Stokes
¹⁰
B lined system.