SPECTRAL SHIFT CONTROL REACTOR BASIC PHYSICS PROGRAM. CRITICAL EXPERIMENTS ON LATTICES MODERATED BY D$sub 2$O-H$sub 2$O MIXTURES

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1961

OSTI ID:4801485

Engelder, T C; Snidow, N L; Clark, R H; Barksdale, C E; Lewis, R H; Baldwin, M N

Spectral Shift Control Reactor Basic Physics Program are summarized. Nine major critical assemblies of rod lattices were studied in moderator mixtures of light and heavy water ranging from zero to 81.2 mole% D/sub 2/O. In some assemblies, the moderator was poisoned with boric acid. The non-moderator-to- moderator volume ratio in all lattices was approximately 1.0. The fuel in most lattices was 4%enriched UO/sub 2/ swaged in stainless steel, although two experiments were performed with 93%-enriched U0/sub 2/ ThO/sub 2/ pellets in aluminum tubes. One assembly was zone-loaded radially and contained both types of fuel. The critical mass, D/sub 2/O concentration, boron concentration, buckling, thermal disadvanthge factor, and cadmium ratio of U/sup 235/ were measured in each assembly. In most assemblies, the cadmium ratio of U/sup 238/ or Th/sup 232/ was measared, and in five assembli es, the epithermal neutron spectrum was derived from the measurements taken of the resonance activity of detector foils. In special experiments at high D/sub 2/ concentrations, the perturbations by moderator gaps and control blades were studied, and the reflector savings versus reflector thickness was measured. The flux distribution in the zoneloaded assembly was also mapped. The measured lattice parameters are sumraarized. (auth)

• Research Organization: Babcock and Wilcox Co. Critical Experiment Lab., Lynchburg, Va.
• NSA Number: NSA-16-008301
• OSTI ID: 4801485
• Report Number(s): BAW-1231
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ABSORPTION
ACTIVATION
ALUMINUM
BORON OXIDES
BUCKLING
CADMIUM
CADMIUM RATIO
CANNING
CONFIGURATION
CONTROL
CONTROL ELEMENTS
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
CRITICALITY
CROSS SECTIONS
DIAGRAMS
ENERGY
ENERGY RANGE
ENRICHMENT
EPITHERMAL NEUTRONS
FOILS
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAVY WATER MODERATOR
MASS
MEASURED VALUES
MODERATORS
NEUTRON DETECTION
NEUTRON FLUX
NEUTRONS
PELLETS
PLATES
POISONING
REACTIVITY
REACTOR CORE
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
REACTORS
REFLECTORS
RESONANCE
RESONANCE ESCAPE PROBABILITY
RODS
SLOWDOWN
SPECTRA
SPECTRAL SHIFT
STAINLESS STEELS
TEMPERATURE
THERMAL NEUTRONS
THERMAL UTILIZATION
THICKNESS
THORIUM 232
THORIUM OXIDES