Godiva Experiments for the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Godiva IV is a fast burst critical assembly constructed of approximately 65 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel alloyed with 1.5 percent molybdenum for strength. Godiva is one of the last such critical assemblies in the United States, and can be used for studies of super-prompt critical behavior as well as irradiations and demonstrations. A demonstration of a Godiva burst is usually performed as a highlight of the hands-on portion of the Criticality Safety Training Classes taught at the National Criticality Experiment Research Center (NCERC). The Godiva burst is used to demonstrate the concept of super-prompt critical and the time-scale of a criticality accident. In addition, several NCSP projects have been conducted on Godiva IV over the past two years. One experiment focused on collecting data to support multiphysics simulations using Photo-Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) to measure surface movement and gamma detectors to measure the burst output as the burst develops from background to peak over ten orders of magnitude. Another experiment was performed to demonstrate the functionality of the Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) system developed for installation in the Y-12 Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). The system must not only respond to a criticality event and alarm, but must also be shown to operate in a high dose environment.
- 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:
- 1899559
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 125; ISSN 0003-018X
- Publisher:
- American Nuclear Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS)
Fast Burst Critical Assembly
Integral Experiments
National Criticality Experiment Research Center (NCERC)
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Photo-Doppler Velocimetry (PDV)