Estimated critical conditions for UF{sub 4}-oil systems in fully oil-reflected spherical geometry
Paraffinic oil has been exposed to UF{sub 6} gas in seal exhaust pumps and cascade equipment at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The resulting mixture is more nuclearly reactive than mixtures of UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O and is not bounded by the subcritical mass limits presented in several nuclear criticality safety guides. The purpose of this analysis is to determine several critical parameters; specifically, (1) k{sub {infinity}} and the critical mass for several enrichments and moderation levels and (2) the mass limits for these mixtures. The estimated critical masses for the UF{sub 4}-oil systems are smaller than for the UO{sub 2}F{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O systems. The suggested mass limits for the UF{sub 4}-oil systems are 0.240, 0.280, 0.350, 0.430, and 0.670, and 1.170 kg {sup 235}U for enrichments of 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, and 3 wt.% {sup 235}U respectively.
- Research Organization:
- Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 481507
- Report Number(s):
- POEF-LMUS-44; ON: DE97007561; TRN: 97:011114
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: May 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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