Integral Experiment Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) using Highly Enriched Uranium with Polyethylene at Low Temperature (IER-479 CED-2 Report)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), Birchwood (United Kingdom)
The goal of IER-479 is to design uranium critical experiments that can be used to validate low temperature cross sections and criticality safety analyses over multiple neutron energy regimes. Currently, there are no benchmarks in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) handbook at temperatures lower than room temperature (International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project Handbook, 2019). However, there are many needs for validation of criticality safety analysis at lower temperatures, including meeting transportation requirements and operations conducted outside or in unheated facilities. Additionally, NCSP has funded North Carolina State (NCSU) to generate new thermal scattering laws, including at lower temperatures, and the lack of integral benchmarks impedes data testing of these new cross sections. To address these needs, this report will present a critical experiment design covering various fission energy regimes with a goal temperature of -40°C (-40°F), which is based on the lower bound of expected non-cryogenic operational temperatures. The goal of the U.S. Nuclear Criticality Safety Program’s (NCSP) Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) is to design and conduct new critical experiments to address high priority nuclear data needs from the nuclear criticality safety and nuclear data communities. The TEX program includes two series of baseline experimental configurations, one based on plutonium fuel (plutonium-aluminum Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) plates) and the other based on uranium fuel (highly enriched uranium (HEU) plates), that are moderated with varying thickness of polyethylene to create assemblies which span the thermal, intermediate, and fast fission energy regimes. The configurations are designed to be easily modified (for example, to add diluent materials of interest) to allow for efficient generation of additional benchmark configurations and allow for added nuclear data testing utility when comparing modified configurations to baseline configurations. The goal of IER-479 is to use the TEX-HEU concept (stack of HEU plates and polyethylene moderators) to design a critical experiment that can be used to validate low temperature cross sections and criticality safety analyses.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1891219
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-TR-838819; 1059033
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
IER-297 CED-2: Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments with Jemima Plates with Polyethylene and Hafnium
TEX-Hf Assemblies: Highly Enriched Uranium Plates with Hafnium Using Polyethylene Moderator and Polyethylene Reflector
Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with Lithium Absorbers to Provide Validation Benchmarks for Y-12 Electrorefining Facility
Technical Report
·
Wed Jan 10 23:00:00 EST 2018
·
OSTI ID:1417961
TEX-Hf Assemblies: Highly Enriched Uranium Plates with Hafnium Using Polyethylene Moderator and Polyethylene Reflector
Technical Report
·
Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2024
·
OSTI ID:2459409
Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with Lithium Absorbers to Provide Validation Benchmarks for Y-12 Electrorefining Facility
Technical Report
·
Wed Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2025
·
OSTI ID:3005961