Progress Update on the MUSIC Critical Benchmark
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
The Measurement of Uranium Subcritical and Critical (MUSiC) experiment was carried out from December 2020 through April 2021 at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC). This measurement campaign featured bare configurations of the Rocky Flats highly-enriched uranium (HEU) shells, with each configuration having different numbers of these shells. The goal of the experiment was to test multiple neutron multiplicity detectors and measurement methods for a large range of neutron multiplication values. The large range of multiplications allows researchers to see when the combination of detectors and methods break down as the configurations reach the delayed supercritical window. The critical configurations were the extreme end of the multiplication range in MUSIC configurations. A critical benchmark in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook is planned to help further validate nuclear data. Even though there are many benchmarks focusing on the fast spectrum for highly-enriched uranium, an additional benchmark that is well documented and up to the modern standard of the handbook would be a welcome addition. Given that there are no other materials such as moderators or significant reflectors, and its similarity to Lady Godiva, it is possible that this could be very useful for validation of 235U nuclear data in the future.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- OSTI ID:
- 1897647
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-22-26184
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Preliminary NoMAD Results of the MUSIC Experiment
Future of the MUSiC Experiment Data
Related Subjects
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU)
Integral Experiments
International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP)
Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP)
National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC)
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)