Reactor pressure vessel neutron fluence surveillance dosimetry using solid-state track recorders
- Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Many neutron dosimetry issues arose in the context of life assurance/extension programs for nuclear power plants. The most important of these relates to determining the extent of reactor pressure vessel steel embrittlement caused by fast neutron leakage from the reactor core, since a key factor in reactor plant life is the service lifetime of the reactor pressure vessel. In the past, neutron dosimetry for pressure vessel surveillance purposes was carried out mainly through analyses of dosimetry sets installed in surveillance capsules. Surveillance capsule neutron dosimetry programs are limited by restrictions on the position and number of locations available and by the frequency of removal of the surveillance capsules. In many cases, neutron surveillance data cannot be obtained near critical vessel locations, and dosimetry data are only obtained when the surveillance capsules are removed, so most results are averaged over several reactor operating cycles. During the past 5 years, pressure vessel surveillance dosimetry sets were deployed in the reactor cavity (annular gap) region to perform neutron dosimetry on a cycle-by-cycle basis. Solid-state track recorder (SSTR) neutron dosimeters are a key component of these reactor-cavity surveillance dosimetry sets. Measurements by SSTR neutron dosimetry have demonstrably produced high-quality results in a large number of cases, and the absolute accuracy of the technique was validated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through irradiations in standard neutron fields.
- OSTI ID:
- 5860739
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-910603-; CODEN: TANSA
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 63; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Orlando, FL (United States), 2-6 Jun 1991; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BWR TYPE REACTORS
PRESSURE VESSELS
NEUTRON DETECTORS
PERFORMANCE
NEUTRON FLUENCE
PWR TYPE REACTORS
ACCURACY
EMBRITTLEMENT
FAST NEUTRONS
IRRADIATION
NEUTRON LEAKAGE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PLUTONIUM 239
REACTOR CORES
RELIABILITY
SERVICE LIFE
SURVEILLANCE
URANIUM 235
ACTINIDE ISO
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BARYONS
CONTAINERS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POWER REACTORS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
THERMAL REACTORS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
210100* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
440101 - Radiation Instrumentation- General Detectors or Monitors & Radiometric Instruments