Prompt Neutron Decay Constant Measurements on a Copper Reflected Intermediate Enrichment Uranium System with Lead Intersitial

Conference · Wed Nov 20 04:00:00 EST 2019 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/t31099· OSTI ID:1915129

McKenzie, George ^[1]; Grove, Travis ^[1]; Sanchez, Rene ^[1]

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

This work examines a set of prompt neutron decay constant measurements performed on the Zeus critical experiment. The Zeus experiment was designed to measure the lead void reactivity coefficient associated with an intermediate enrichment uranium system. The initial goal was to perform the measurements on a low enriched uranium system, but weight limitations on the Comet critical assembly only allowed for a system with 21%-22% effective uranium enrichment to be built. The Zeus critical experiment was performed on the Comet critical assembly machine located at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC). The Comet critical assembly machine is a vertical lift assembly capable of supporting general large size critical experiments. This critical experiment consists of a copper reflector set most notably used in other configurations of the Zeus experiment series. The fuel used during the Zeus experiments consists of cylindrical highly enriched uranium (HEU) plates with a nominal 1/8-in. (0.318-cm) thickness. These plates were collocated with natural uranium plates to reduce the effective enrichment of the system to 21%-22%. Lead plates are interleaved between each fuel set.

• 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: 1915129
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-19-31541
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Issue: 1 Journal Volume: 121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Comet Critical Assembly Machine
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU)
Integral Experiments
National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC)
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Zeus Critical Experiment