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U.S. Department of Energy
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KINETIC STUDIES OF HETEROGENEOUS WATER REACTORS. Quarterly Progress Report for Period Ending September 30, 1962. Report No. 21

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4719263· OSTI ID:4719263

Two experiments were designed and built, in preparation for the measurement of transient steam void formation and extreme pressure pulses during severe power excursions under reactor-like conditions. The preparations for an inpile capsule experiment to be carried out using the KEWB reactor as a source of pulsed neutrons are described. The water-filled capsule, exposed to neutron flux, will contain a uranium-bearing plate. Transient heating of the plate will produce a surface temperature transient which is characteristic of a severe power excursion in a heterogeneous water reactor. Measurements of steam formation rates will be applicable to the destructive transients presently underway in the SPERT-I reactor. The second experiment is an out-of-pile apparatus in which an attempt will be made to create severe pressure transients by causing the temperature of a surface to rise rapidly through the thermodynamic critical point of water. Studies related to boiling-water reactor stability were continued. Transfer function and steam void fraction distribution measurements were made. An analysis indicated that a multi-channel natural circulation boiling system may have two modes of hydrodynamic instability. (M.C.G.)

Research Organization:
Space Technology Labs., Inc. Physical Electronics Lab., Canoga Park, Calif.
NSA Number:
NSA-17-021259
OSTI ID:
4719263
Report Number(s):
TID-17005
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English