ZERO POWER CHECK POINT EXPERIMENTS. VOLUME I. ERDL--TASK 100, PHASE 3

Technical Report · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 UTC 1959

OSTI ID:4236637

Olsen, T M

The major results of the Task 100 Zero Power Check Point Experiment have been analyzed and the following conclusions were made. The discrepancy between the number of fuel elements required ln a critical APPR-1 array and its Task 100 mockup (17 and 20 4/18, respectively) is due to less-than-specification boron loading in the APPR-1 and deviation of the mockup core structure and material content from the APPR-1 specifications. The specified loading for the APPR-1 was 2.649 gm of B-10.82 per fixed element. The elements used contained 88.6% of the specified. The reactivlty worth of the heterogeneity difference between an APPR- 1 fuel plate and its Task 100 mockup, the laminated fuel bundle, accounts for two of the additional fuel elements required to mockup the 17-element APPR-1 critical array. The analytical methods developed in Task 100, Phase 3, produced values of K/sub eff/ for the Task 100 just-critical cores which agreed with the experiment within approximately 0.5%. No adjustment factors were used. The analysis was performed with 18-group modified age theory, 3-group diffusion theory, consistent reflector savings and 3-group bucklings, and two-dimensional heterogeneity corrections. The SNK transport theory was used to compare the thermal flux distribution through the APPR-1 fuel plate and its Task 100 mockup fuel bundle. The K/sub eff/ results of an improved window shade model technique agree with the experiment with approximately 0.5%. Agreement of analytical and experimental gross flux distributions and values of material worth for a core with partially inserted control rods should be improved by use of thin region theory and three- dimensional solutions of the diffusion equation. Material data for the Task 100 cores was obtained by chemical and spectrographic analysis and from the core design drawings. (auth)

• Research Organization: Martin Co. Nuclear Div., Baltimore
• NSA Number: NSA-13-018734
• OSTI ID: 4236637
• Report Number(s): MND-E-1847-I
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BORON-- BUCKLING-- CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES-- DIFFUSION-- FUEL ELEMENTS-- GROUP THEORY-- LIFETIME-- MEASURED VALUES-- MOCKUP-- NEUTRON FLUX- - NUMERICALS-- POWER PLANTS-- REACTORS-- REFLECTORS-- SM-1-- SM-1A-- URANIUM
BORON-- BUILDING MATERIALS-- CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES-- FUEL ELEMENTS-- MATERIALS TESTING-- MEASURED VALUES-- MOCKUP-- POWER PLANTS-- QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS-- REACTORS-- SM-1-- SM-1A-- SPECTROSCOPY-- URANIUM
BORON-- CONTROL ELEMENTS-- CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES-- DIFFUSION-- FUEL ELEMENTS-- MATHEMATICS-- MEASURED VALUES-- MOCKUP-- NEUTRON FLUX-- NEUTRONS-- POWER PLANTS-- REACTORS-- SM-1-- SM-1A-- URANIUM-- ZONES
BORON-- CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES-- DI
REACTORS