Some Considerations on {sup 242m}Am Production in Thermal Reactors

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2004 · Nuclear Technology

OSTI ID:20840218

Cesana, Alessandra ^[1]; Mongelli, Sara Tania ^[1]; Terrani, Mario ^[1]; Benetti, Pietro ^[2]; Calligarich, Elio ^[2]; Dolfini, Rinaldo ^[2]; Raselli, Gian Luca ^[2]

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1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare del Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
2. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Sezione di Pavia (Italy)

Recently, it has been suggested to consider {sup 242m}Am as a potential nuclear fuel. This artificial nuclide can be produced through {sup 241}Am neutron capture carried on in a neutron field typical of a thermal reactor. In order to suppress the thermal neutron flux, which will cause {sup 242m}Am depletion mainly through fission, proper neutron filters should be adopted. In a very intense neutron field, the {sup 242m}Am enrichment depends mainly on the energy distribution of the neutrons, the sample thickness, and the cutoff energy of the neutron filter.An investigation on different geometries of the sample to be irradiated using Cd, B, Sm, and Gd as neutron filters has been carried out by means of Monte Carlo simulation. The most favorable results have been obtained irradiating thin {sup 241}Am samples (11 {mu}g/cm{sup 2}) covered with a Gd (0.2-mm-thick) or Sm (1-mm-thick) filter. In these cases the theoretical {sup 242m}Am enrichment can reach 20%.The preparation of significant quantities of this unconventional nuclear fuel implies isotopic separation techniques operating in high radioactive environments and hopefully characterized by very high recovery factors, which are in no way trivial problems.

• OSTI ID: 20840218
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 148; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
AMERICIUM 241
AMERICIUM 242
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ENERGY SPECTRA
ENRICHMENT
FILTERS
IRRADIATION
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NEUTRON REACTIONS
NUCLEAR FUELS
THERMAL NEUTRONS
THERMAL REACTORS