Transport-level description of the sup 252 Cf-source method using the Langevin technique

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7022483

Stolle, A M; Akcasu, A Z ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (United States)

The fluctuations in the neutron number density and detector outputs in a nuclear reactor can be analyzed conveniently by using the Langevin equation approach. This approach can be implemented at any level of approximation to describe the time evolution of the neutron population, from the most complete transport-level description to the very basic point reactor analysis of neutron number density fluctuations. In this summary, the complete space- and velocity-dependent transport-level formulation of the Langevin equation approach is applied to the analysis of the {sup 252}Cf-source-driven noise analysis (CSDNA) method, an experimental technique developed by J.T. Mihalczo at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which makes use of noise analysis to determine the reactivity of subcritical media. From this analysis, a theoretical expression for the subcritical multiplication factor is obtained that can then be used to interpret the experimental data. Results at the transport level are in complete agreement with an independent derivation performed by Sutton and Doub, who used the probability density method to interpret the CSDNA experiment, but differed from other expressions that have appeared in the literature.

• OSTI ID: 7022483
• Report Number(s): CONF-911107--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 63
• 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
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CALIFORNIUM 252
CALIFORNIUM ISOTOPES
CAPTURE
EQUATIONS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FISSION
FOURIER TRANSFORMATION
FUNCTIONS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATIONS
ISOTOPES
LANGEVIN EQUATION
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEUTRAL-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRON TRANSPORT
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
ORNL
PARTICLE SOURCES
PHYSICS
POWER DENSITY
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATION TRANSPORT
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR MONITORING SYSTEMS
REACTOR PHYSICS
SPECTRAL DENSITY
SPECTRAL FUNCTIONS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
TRANSFORMATIONS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES