Rossi-α Measurements on a System Consisting of Weapons Grade Plutonium Moderated by Polyethylene

Conference · Tue May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2022

OSTI ID:1886656

McKenzie, George E. ^[1]; Cutler, Theresa E. ^[1]; Grove, Travis J. ^[1]; McSpaden, Alex T. ^[1]; Sanchez, Rene G. ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

A critical experiment was performed on the Planet assembly to provide nuclear data in a thermal neutron spectrum, in particular to provide experimental data to help validate thermal scattering laws for polyethylene. The fuel consisted of layers of weapons grade plutonium plates that were moderated and reflected by various thicknesses of high density polyethylene. Rossi-α measurements were performed on a slightly modified configuration from the configuration used for the critical measurements. The Rossi-α measurement techniques are discussed and results are presented.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001; AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1886656
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-21-30927
• Resource Relation: Conference: International Conference on Physics of Reactors 2022 (PHYSOR 2022), Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 15-20 May 2022; Related Information: https://www.ans.org/meetings/physor2022/session/view-1051/#paper_2777
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Integral Experiments
Plutonium
Critical experiments
Spectral indices
Rossi-α