Neutron Kinetics and Reactor Control

A nuclear reactor is designed to achieve the very delicate balance between neutron “production” (release) in fission reactions and neutron loss by absorption and leakage. A given neutron will be “born” in a fission event and will then usually scatter about the reactor until it meets its eventual “death” either by being absorbed in some material or by leaking out of the reactor. A certain number of these neutrons will be absorbed by fissionable nuclei and induce further fissions, thereby leading to the birth of new fission neutrons, that is, to a new generation of neutrons. The ratio of the number of neutrons born in a fission-neutron generation to the number born in the previous generation is called the effective reactor multiplication factor, keff. The keff characterizes the balance or imbalance in the chain reaction. Alternatively, keff can be defined by the ratio of production rate to loss rate of neutrons in the reactor. These definitions are given below:

COUNTERING NEUTRON CLUSTERING IN MONTE CARLO WITH A NEUTRON SOURCE INJECTION

Neutron clustering is a recently identified problem with Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations which can produce significantly erroneous results. Previous work by Sutton & Mittal (2017) considered neutron clustering as a problem of maintaining ‘genetic diversity’ within the neutron population. This paper proposes reducing the extent of neutron clustering by replacing fission neutrons in the source bank with uncorrelated neutrons, sampled from a uniform source distribution – effectively adding new neutron genealogies to the population. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated on a number of simple problems, showing improved behaviour of the Shannon entropy and neutron centre-of-mass. Although currently limited in scope, this paper intends to provide a route to reducing clustering effects in more general problems.

High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of fast-neutron induced fission

Experiments to perform precision spectroscopy of fast neutron induced fission were carried out during the ν-Ball experimental campaign at the ALTO facility of IJC Laboratory Orsay. Low energy fission of 232Th(n,f), 238U(n,f) and spontaneous fission of 252Cf were studied using this hybrid highresolution spectrometer and calorimeter. New observables such as γ-ray multiplicity distributions correlated with specific fission fragments are presented and discussed. A new method using fast-timing techniques to detect prompt fission neutrons in coincidence with prompt fission γ-rays is described.

A PRACTICAL EFFECT OF THE RECENT O16 CROSS SECTION AND MUBAR UNCERTAINTIES

With the recent release of ENDF/B VIII.0 data, additional covariance data was provided for many isotopes, including O16. The detail of elastic scattering and mubar covariance data for O16 increased dramatically between ENDF/B VII.1 and ENDF/B VIII.0. This new covariance data has been processed with NJOY2016 and investigation has begun on the effects of these new uncertainty data. The uncertainties are applied to multi-group scattering cross sections and P1 Legendre components in deterministic neutron transport. A simple but typical application of shielding fission neutrons with concrete has been used to assess the practical effects of the new covariance data for O16. A somewhat surprising result is that the mubar uncertainty can have a significant effect on the calculated shielding and criticality results.

Neutron Spectrum

The subcritical multiplication factor is considered an important index for recognizing, in the core, the number of fission neutrons induced by an external neutron source. In this study, the influences of different external neutron sources on core characteristics are carefully monitored. Here, the high-energy neutrons generated by the neutron yield at the location of the target are attained by the injection of 100 MeV protons onto these targets. In actual ADS cores, liquid Pb–Bi has been selected as a material for the target that generates spallation neutrons and for the coolant in fast neutron spectrum cores. The neutron spectrum information is acquired by the foil activation method in the 235U-fueled and Pb–Bi-zoned fuel region of the core, modeling the Pb–Bi coolant core locally around the central region. The neutron spectrum is considered an important parameter for recognizing information on neutron energy at the target. Also, the neutron spectrum evaluated by reliable methodologies could contribute to the accurate prediction of reactor physics parameters in the core through numerical simulations of desired precision. In the present chapter, experimental analyses of high-energy neutrons over 20 MeV are conducted after adequate preparation of experimental settings.

Multiplicity of scision neutrons from density functional scission dynamics

The time evolution of the nuclear density of the fissioning system 240Pu during the scission process is obtained from the time-dependent superfluid local-density approximation (TDSLDA) to the density functional theory. A nuclear energy density functional based on the Skyrme force Skm* is used. The duration of the scission process Δt as well as the neck radius (rmin) of the ‘just-before scission’ configuration and the minimum separation (dmin) of the inner surfaces of the fragments in the ’immediately-after scission’ configuration were extracted in order to calculate the multiplicity of the scission neutrons (Vsc) using a phenomenological dynamical scission model (DSM). We find that Vsc=1.347, i.e. half of the prompt fission neutrons measured in the reaction 239Pu(nth; f) are released at scission. After scission, the fragments are left excited and with some extra deformation energy (mainly the heavy one). In this way we can account for the evaporation of the other half and for the emission of γ rays.

Positron annihilation spectroscopy study of radiation-induced defects in W and Fe irradiated with neutrons with different spectra

The paper presents new knowledge on primary defect formation in tungsten (W) and iron (Fe) irradiated by fission and high-energy neutrons at near-room temperature. Using a well-established method of positron-annihilation lifetime-spectroscopy (PALS), it was found that irradiation of W in the fission reactor and by high-energy neutrons from the p(35 MeV)-Be generator leads to the formation of small radiation-induced vacancy clusters with comparable mean size. In the case of Fe, smaller mean size of primary radiation-induced vacancy clusters was measured after irradiation with fission neutrons compared to irradiation with high-energy neutrons from the p(35 MeV)-Be generator. It was found that one of the reasons of the formation of the larger size of the defects with lower density in Fe is lower flux in the case of irradiation with high-energy neutrons from the p(35 MeV)-Be source. The second reason is enhanced defect agglomeration and recombination within the energetic displacement cascade at high energy primary knock-on-atoms (PKAs). This is consistent with the concept of the athermal recombination corrected (arc-dpa) model, although the measured dpa cross-section of both fission neutrons and wide-spectrum high-energy neutrons in W is between the conventional Norgett–Robinson–Torrens (NRT-dpa) and arc-dpa predictions. This means that the physics of the primary radiation effects in materials is still not fully known and requires further study through a combination of modeling and experimental efforts. The present data serve as a basis for the development of an improved concept of the displacement process.