Decay heating measurements and calculations for irradiated /sup 235/U, /sup 233/U, /sup 239/Pu, and /sup 232/Th (LWBR Development Program)

Technical Report · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1974

OSTI ID:6719235

Gunst, S B; Conway, D E; Connor, J C

Samples of /sup 235/U, /sup 233/U, /sup 239/Pu and /sup 232/Th have been irradiated in high neutron fluxes (>10/sup 14/ n/cm/sup 2/-sec) and their decay heatings have been measured as functions of cooling time from 14 hours to 4500 hours after removal from the high flux. To measure the rate of heat emission, an underwater calorimeter has been developed. For the measured exposure histories, decay heatings have also been calculated for the concentrations of 190 fission products, all significant heavy isotopes, and structural nuclides. Account is taken of the energy carried by gamma rays that escape the calorimeter. Measurements and calculations of the decay heating captured within the calorimeter agree within two standard deviations for all samples and cooling times and, in general, agree within 2%. For the /sup 235/U sample, calculations based on the Proposed ANS Standard ANS-5.1 agree with the measurements within a few percent. 17 references. (NSA 30: 34244)

• Research Organization: Bettis Atomic Power Lab., Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6719235
• Report Number(s): WAPD-TM-1183
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220100* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Theory & Calculation
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AFTER-HEAT
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BREEDER REACTORS
CALORIMETRY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LWBR TYPE REACTORS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
THORIUM 232
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM 233
URANIUM 235
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES