EXPONENTIAL MEASUREMENTS IN DIPHENYL-MODERATED, URANIUM-METAL LATTICES

Technical Report · Fri Sep 15 04:00:00 EDT 1961

OSTI ID:4834976

Campbell, R W; Guzzle, T L; Paschall, R K

Material buckling and intracell flux distribution measurements are made for a series of diphenyl-moderated, uranium-metal exponential assemblies. The lattices consist of square cells with a 1-in.-diameter fuel element located at the center and spaced to give moderator-to-fuel (M-F) ratios of approximately 1.5, 2, 3, 3.5, and 4. Fuel enrichments of 0.4962, 0.7205, and 0.9124 at.% are used. The lattice is maintained at a temperature of 180 deg F. Measurements are conducted for natural fuel with a 3.15 M-F ratio, and the buckling is found to be -4.1 plus or minus 0.5 m/sup -2/. Intracell flux distributions are measured for eight lattices and compared with calculations using cross-sections averaged over a Wigner-Wilkins spectrum. Agreement is good for small spacings but grows worse as the cell size increases, because the cell structure departs from the homogenized cell used to calculate the neutron spectrum. Thermal utilizations are calculated from both the measured and calculated flux distributions and are found to disagree by less than 2%. (auth)

• Research Organization: Atomics International. Div. of North American Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, Calif.
• DOE Contract Number: AT(11-1)-GEN-8
• NSA Number: NSA-15-030213
• OSTI ID: 4834976
• Report Number(s): NAA-SR-6409
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BUCKLING
CONFIGURATION
DISTRIBUTION
ENRICHMENT
EQUATIONS
EXPONENTIAL PILES
FUEL ELEMENTS
METALS
NEUTRON FLUX
NEUTRONS
ORGANIC MODERATOR
POLYPHENYLS
REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
SPECTRA
THERMAL UTILIZATION
URANIUM
VARIATIONS