Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Flattop Operations at NCERC

Journal Article · · Nuclear Science and Engineering
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The Flattop critical assembly was built and operated from 1958 through 2004 at the Pajarito Site (Technical Area-18), home to the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. Flattop was disassembled in 2005 and refurbished over the course of 3 years. In 2008, Flattop was installed in the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) located in the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site. Startup of Flattop with a uranium core occurred in 2011. This paper details the first 10 years of Flattop operations at NCERC (2011–present).

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)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1900385
Journal Information:
Nuclear Science and Engineering, Journal Name: Nuclear Science and Engineering Journal Issue: sup1 Vol. 195; ISSN 0029-5639
Publisher:
Taylor & FrancisCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (9)

Comparison of irradiated foil measurements with activation calculations and HPGe simulations journal April 2018
Activation product interpretation of structural material for fast critical assemblies journal September 2018
Fission Product Data Measured at Los Alamos for Fission Spectrum and Thermal Neutrons on 239Pu, 235U, 238U journal December 2010
Fission Product Yields from Fission Spectrum n+239Pu for ENDF/B-VII.1 journal December 2010
Results of the KRUSTY Warm Critical Experiments journal June 2020
A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Radiation Test Object Operations at NCERC journal October 2021
A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Comet Operations at NCERC journal October 2021
A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Planet Operations at NCERC journal October 2021
Topsy, A Remotely Controlled Critical Assembly Machine journal March 1956

Figures / Tables (23)

Fig. 1(p. 2)figure Fig. 1
Fig. 2(p. 2)figure Fig. 2
Fig. 3(p. 4)figure Fig. 3
Fig. 4(p. 5)figure Fig. 4
Fig. 5(p. 5)figure Fig. 5
Fig. 6(p. 6)figure Fig. 6
Fig. 7(p. 6)figure Fig. 7
TABLE I(p. 7)table TABLE I
TABLE II(p. 7)table TABLE II
Fig. 8(p. 8)figure Fig. 8
Fig. 9(p. 9)figure Fig. 9
TABLE III(p. 9)table TABLE III
TABLE IV(p. 10)table TABLE IV
Fig. 10(p. 11)figure Fig. 10
Fig. 11(p. 12)figure Fig. 11
Fig. 12(p. 13)figure Fig. 12
Fig. 13(p. 14)figure Fig. 13
Fig. 14(p. 14)figure Fig. 14
Fig. 15(p. 15)figure Fig. 15
Fig. 16(p. 15)figure Fig. 16
Fig. 17(p. 16)figure Fig. 17
Fig. 18(p. 17)figure Fig. 18
Fig. 19(p. 17)figure Fig. 19

Similar Records

A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Comet Operations at NCERC
Journal Article · Thu Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nuclear Science and Engineering · OSTI ID:1900394
A New Era of Nuclear Criticality Experiments: The First 10 Years of Planet Operations at NCERC
Journal Article · Thu Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nuclear Science and Engineering · OSTI ID:1900398
Generating Models of the Flattop Critical Assembly for Benchmark Experiments with Python
Conference · Tue Nov 15 23:00:00 EST 2022 · OSTI ID:1897620

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION
Critical Assembly Machine
Criticality Experiments
Fast Benchmark Experiment
Flattop
Integral Experiments
National Criticality Experiments Research Center
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)