Alpha irradiation modeling
With the end of the Cold War and the associated limitations imposed on the nuclear weapons stockpile by strategic arms treaties, much has changed in the stockpile stewardship program. Weapons that were originally designed for stockpile lives on the order of 15 to 20 years are now being evaluated for much longer periods: in some cases as much as 60 years. As such, issues that were once considered to be of no consequence are being reexamined. Among these is the extent of the radiation dose received by secondary organics over time that results from the intrinsic alpha source of the weapon components. This report describes the results of work performed to estimate the alpha radiation deposition in the organic components of an LLNL system at specific points in its stockpile life. Included are discussions of the development of the intrinsic time- and energy-dependent alpha source term per unit mass, estimation of the effective source and absorber material thicknesses, development of a simplified model for the total intrinsic alpha source term and energy deposition in the absorber, and the alpha radiation deposition in the organic components of a selected LLNL weapon.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 12128
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-133554; DP0401281; DP0401281; TRN: AH200119%%342
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 22nd Aging, Compatibility and Stockpile Stewardship Conference, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, TN (US), 04/27/1999--04/30/1999; Other Information: PBD: 26 Mar 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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