TIME BEHAVIOR OF GODIVA THROUGH PROMPT CRITICAL
Studies were made of the time behavior of a bare spherical U/sup 235/ metal assembly (Godiva) following sudden increases in reactivity with essentially zero initial power level and no external neutron source. The highest final reactivity attained under controlled conditions was about 10 cents above prompt critical. In the region above prompt critical the observed fission rate increased exponentially until the decreasing reactivity from thermal expansion caused it to pass through a bell-shaped maximum or "burst." Following this burst, the fission rate dropped to a low-amplitude "tail" sustained by delayed neutrons and finally terminated upon automatic scramming of the assembly. Burst amplitudes corresponding to instantaneous power levels of 10,000 Mw were observed with durations under a millisecond. Excellent agreement was found between measured reactor periods and calculations based on recent delayed neutron data. Over-all burst behavior also was found to agree with theory based on a space independent one-group model. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos Scientific Lab., N. Mex.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- NSA Number:
- NSA-12-001075
- OSTI ID:
- 4355222
- Report Number(s):
- LA-2029
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Prompt Neutron Periods of a Critical Assembly Measured with a Pulsed Source
Godiva IV Central Cavity Neutron Environment Characterization with Threshold Neutron Detectors
Related Subjects
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
CRITICALITY
DELAYED NEUTRONS
EQUATIONS
ERRORS
EXCURSIONS
EXPANSION
FAST NEUTRONS
FISSION
GODIVA-1
GROUP THEORY
HIGH TEMPERATURE
LADY GODIVA
MEASURED VALUES
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
NEUTRON FLUX
NEUTRON SOURCES
NUMERICALS
PHYSICS
PROMPT NEUTRONS
REACTIVITY
REACTOR CORE
REACTORS
SHUTDOWN
SPHERES
STABILITY
STANDARDS
TEMPERATURE
THERMAL NEUTRONS
TRANSIENTS
URANIUM 235
VARIATIONS