CRITICAL MASS STUDIES. PART VIII. AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS OF U$sup 23$$sup 3$

Technical Report · Wed Sep 23 04:00:00 EDT 1959

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4212178· OSTI ID:4212178

Fox, J K; Gilley, L W; Rohrer, E R

A series of experiments were performed to establish the critical parameters of aqueous solutions of uranyl nitrate and uranyl fluoride in which the uranium contained 98.7% U/sup 233/. Solutions were made critical in both spherical and cylindrical geometries with paraffin or water as a neutron reflector and, in two instances, with no reflector. The U/sup 233/ concentration varied from 30 to 600 g/liter. The minimum critical mass observed was 590 g of U/ sup 233/ in the solution having an H: U/sup 233/ atomic ratio of 419 occupying a 10.4-in.-diam sphere. The minimum measured volume was 3.66 liters in a 6.7-in. equilateral cylinder containing a solution with an H: U/sup 233/ atomic ratio of 39.4. Extrapolated source neutron multiplication data indicate that a 5-in.-diam cylinder can be made critical if reflected, but a 4-in.-diam cylinder would be subcritical at all moderations. It was also found that 2.02 kg of U/sup 233/ in an unreflected 10-in. equilateral cylinder is critical with a solution having an H: U/sup 233/ atomic ratio of 154. An unreflected sphere 12.6 in. in diameter is critical with 1.14 kg of U/sup 233/ in a solution with an H: U/sup 233/ ratio of 381. Extension of the data to geometries other than those used experimentally was made by an empirical calculation. (auth)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-13-021043
• OSTI ID: 4212178
• Report Number(s): ORNL-2143
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CONFIGURATION
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
CRITICALITY
CRITICALITY STUDIES
CYLINDERS
DENSITY
FLUORIDES
FUEL SOLUTIONS
FUELS
MASS
MATHEMATICS
MEASURED VALUES
MODERATOR- FUEL RATIO
MODERATORS
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
NEUTRONS
PARAFFIN
REFLECTORS
SOLVENTS
SPHERES
URANIUM 233
URANYL COMPOUNDS
URANYL NITRATES
VOLUME
WATER
WATER MODERATOR