Reactor Dynamics Experiments with a Sub-Critical Assembly

Conference · Sun Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2004

OSTI ID:841304

Miley, George H. ^[1]; Yang, Yang ^[1]; Wu, Linchun ^[1]; Momota, Hiromo ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

A resurgence in use of nuclear power is now underway worldwide. However due to the shutdown of many university research reactors, student laboratories must rely more heavily on use of sub-critical assemblies. Here a driven sub-critical is described that uses a cylindrical Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device to provide a fusion neutron source. The small IEC neutron source would be inserted in a fuel element position, with its power input controlled externally at a control panel. This feature opens the way to use of the critical assembly for a number of transient experiments such as sub-critical pulsing and neutron wave propagation. That in turn adds important new insights and excitement for the student teaching laboratory.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 841304
• Resource Relation: Conference: Americas Nuclear Energy Symposium (ANES 2004), Miami, FL (United States), 3-6 Oct 2004; Other Information: PBD: 6 Oct 2004
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
CONFINEMENT
EDUCATION
ELECTROSTATICS
FUEL ELEMENTS
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR POWER
POWER INPUT
RESEARCH REACTORS
SHUTDOWN
TRANSIENTS
WAVE PROPAGATION
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC)
Fusion Neutron Source
Sub-Critical Pulsing
Neutron Wave Propagation