TEX-Hf: Integral Experiment Execution of Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments using Highly Enriched Uranium with Polyethylene and Hafnium (IER-532 CED-3b Report)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
This report documents the experimental configurations and measurements for IER-532, Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel and interstitial hafnium (Hf), moderated and reflected by polyethylene. TEX-Hf is a variation of and based on the TEX-HEU (IER-297) design, with the inclusion of hafnium. These configurations provide integral experiments for validation of hafnium in the thermal, intermediate, and fast neutron energy regimes by maximizing the sensitivity in keff to the hafnium isotope cross sections. The experiment campaign was completed over seven weeks during the end of FY22 and beginning of FY23 at the National Critical Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site. The campaign produced seven experimental configurations, four reproducibility measurements, and many additional dimensional measurements that will be of use to the future benchmark evaluation of this experiment and other experiments using the same HEU fuel. Table 1 summarizes the TEX-Hf experimental configurations, including their physical parameters, calculated fission fractions, and estimated excess reactivities.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1992573
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL--TR-850980; 1077274
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
TEX-HEU: Integral Experiments with Highly Enriched Uranium and Polyethylene (IER-297 CED-3b Report)
IER-297 CED-2: Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments with Jemima Plates with Polyethylene and Hafnium