skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Transmutation of massive loadings of $sup 137$Cs in the blanket of a controlled thermonuclear reactor

Abstract

From joint meeting of the American Nuclear Society and the Atomic lndustrial Forum and Nuclear Energy Exhibition; San Francisco, California, USA (11 Nov 1973). Calculations have been performed that indicate the possibility of reducing below ten years the effective half-life for transmutation of massive loadings of /sup 137/Cs placed in a CTR blanket. The blanket studied is a modification of the cylindrical standard blanket'' calculational benchmark, having 1 cm of Nb wall material followed by a 20 cm target zone, 70 cm of moderator and a 6 cm absorber of Li. The standard blanket'' source yielding a wall loading of 10 MW/m/sup 2/ of 14 MeV neutrons is assumed. Neutron production by (n,2n) reactions in a Be moderator is used to increase the thermal flux. For an 80% target zone loading of /sup 137/Cs, a transmutation rate of 290 kg per year per meter of CTR length is obtained, with a half-life (including radioactive decay) of 9.9 years. At this loading, the transmutation rate is roughly one percent of the length of a CTR blanket would balance the production rate in a fission reactor of the same power. (auth)

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, Wash. (USA)
OSTI Identifier:
4428794
Report Number(s):
BNWL-SA-4773; CONF-731101-6
NSA Number:
NSA-29-001903
DOE Contract Number:  
AT(45-1)-2042
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Joint meeting of the American Nuclear Society and the Atomic Industrial Forum and Nuclear Energy Exhibition, San Francisco, California, USA, 11 Nov 1973; Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 30-JUN-74
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
N70800* -Physics-Controlled Thermonuclear Research- Thermonuclear Engineering & Equipment; *CESIUM 137- TRANSMUTATION; *THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS- BREEDING BLANKETS; HALF-LIFE

Citation Formats

Gore, B F, and Leonard, Jr, B R. Transmutation of massive loadings of $sup 137$Cs in the blanket of a controlled thermonuclear reactor. United States: N. p., 1973. Web.
Gore, B F, & Leonard, Jr, B R. Transmutation of massive loadings of $sup 137$Cs in the blanket of a controlled thermonuclear reactor. United States.
Gore, B F, and Leonard, Jr, B R. 1973. "Transmutation of massive loadings of $sup 137$Cs in the blanket of a controlled thermonuclear reactor". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/4428794.
@article{osti_4428794,
title = {Transmutation of massive loadings of $sup 137$Cs in the blanket of a controlled thermonuclear reactor},
author = {Gore, B F and Leonard, Jr, B R},
abstractNote = {From joint meeting of the American Nuclear Society and the Atomic lndustrial Forum and Nuclear Energy Exhibition; San Francisco, California, USA (11 Nov 1973). Calculations have been performed that indicate the possibility of reducing below ten years the effective half-life for transmutation of massive loadings of /sup 137/Cs placed in a CTR blanket. The blanket studied is a modification of the cylindrical standard blanket'' calculational benchmark, having 1 cm of Nb wall material followed by a 20 cm target zone, 70 cm of moderator and a 6 cm absorber of Li. The standard blanket'' source yielding a wall loading of 10 MW/m/sup 2/ of 14 MeV neutrons is assumed. Neutron production by (n,2n) reactions in a Be moderator is used to increase the thermal flux. For an 80% target zone loading of /sup 137/Cs, a transmutation rate of 290 kg per year per meter of CTR length is obtained, with a half-life (including radioactive decay) of 9.9 years. At this loading, the transmutation rate is roughly one percent of the length of a CTR blanket would balance the production rate in a fission reactor of the same power. (auth)},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4428794}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1973},
month = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1973}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: