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Critical Assemblies of Graphite and Enriched Uranium With Beryllium Reflectors

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1986476
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Collected in this report are data on properties of three sets of cylindrical beryllium reflected, graphite moderated critical assemblies. The first set was primarily to establish characteristics as functions of C/Oy atomic ratio of core with nearly constant reflector thickness. Fission distributions were determined. The second set consisted of three assemblies with fixed core to determine the effect of redistributing reflector from the ends to the cylindrical wall. This series was done to provide the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory's Theoretical Division checks for a two-dimensional diffusion code. Flux distributions in the uniformly reflected assembly were mapped extensively with bare and cadmium shielded foils of oralloy, gold, and indium. The third set was to establish the minimum volume core at C/Oy —350 that could be made critical with available beryllium. Experimental critical data converted to equivalent spherical systems are compared with results of S4 calculations.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); 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:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
1986476
Report Number(s):
BNL-00489
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English