Engineering topics

Weldon Jr., Robert Allen

Publications and source records attributed to Weldon Jr., Robert Allen.

6 records

DOE OSTI2024

Fuel Debris Monitoring Collaboration and Experiences in Criticality Monitoring

Fukushima Daiichi fuel debris removal provides technical challenges and opportunities for the international criticality safety community. The US DOE-NCSP (Nuclear Criticality Safety Program) and France (IRSN) will support 1F fuel debris efforts through collaboration on real-time criticality monitoring. This work will describe a collaboration that is starting soon and will also describe previous efforts associated with criticality experiments and neutron analysis of unknown systems.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Godiva IV Simulated Radiation Field Characterization and Variance Reduction

Godiva IV is a system comprised of highly enriched uranium alloyed with molybdenum in the form of fuel plate rings. The reactor, along with its predecessors, was designed with the unique ability to satisfy interests in the super-prompt-critical reactor operation space. Originally, the reactor was part of the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility (LACEF) at Technical Area-18 (TA-18). The radiation field around Godiva at this facility was well characterized and understood. As a fast neutron system, the neutron spectrum in and around Godiva was close to a Watt Fission spectrum. The Kiva where Godiva IV was located at LACEF was made of thin, sheet metal walls which did not contribute significantly to the neutron spectrum. Following the transition of LACEF to the National Critical Experiments and Research Center (NCERC) in Nevada, Godiva-IV was moved from TA-18 to the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Part of this move brought renewed interest in radiation field characterization. The new facility introduced significant changes to the environment surrounding Godiva, and preliminary foil irradiation results suggested that the room contribution to the neutron spectrum was significant. Unlike at TA-18, a large thermal neutron signature was added to the fast spectrum from Godiva due to significant room return. A primary goal due to the additional complexity that the room return adds to the Godiva IV radiation emission spectrum was the development of an efficient Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) calculation capable of characterizing the neutron spectrum anywhere in the room around Godiva. A campaign of activation foil irradiations and analysis were completed to support the validation of the MCNP model. The modeling of these foils in MCNP can be easily done with a standard volumetric neutron flux tally. However, given the multitude of locations and reaction rates to be modeled, further steps must be taken to increase the efficiency of these calculations in MCNP. During this study, a benchmark model currently under development for Godiva IV was used. A qualitative assessment of the thermal neutron contributors was performed using spatial neutron distribution plots. Additional detail was added to the model based on the qualitative results showing the thermal spectrum’s large sensitivity to hydrogenous material. Neutron energy spectra was evaluated at discrete locations in the room around Godiva to quantify the relative contribution of various components. It was discovered that the concrete walls are the largest contributor to the thermal signature, with minor contributions from plastic components surrounding Godiva. Following these results, two different variance reduction techniques were implemented to improve the problem efficiency in these calculations. In the first approach, an F5 point detector tally was implemented in the standard Godiva IV criticality problem. The second approach involved a weight-window generator implementation with an F5 point detector tally in a fixed source problem. The weight window implementation reduced the runtime from 42739.55 minutes to 1803.34 minutes (computer time), compared to the F5 KCODE implementation.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

The Prompt Fission Uranium Neutron Spectrum (PFUNS) Experiment: Critical Configurations and Irradiations

The objective of the Prompt Fission Uranium Neutron Spectrum (PFUNS) experiment is to reduce the uncertainty of the Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum (PFNS) of 235 U above 8 MeV. The experiment was performed at the DOE National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site. To meet the experiment objective, activation foils were placed in a central void region of a critical configuration consisting of concentric highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal hemishells. The set of activation foils were chosen based on threshold reactions to neutron energies across the fission spectrum, but especially those in the high energy tail of the fission spectrum. PFUNS was performed on the Planet critical assembly machine at NCERC and uses the Rocky Flats (RF) HEU hemishells. PFUNS has similarities to the Measurement of Uranium Subcritical and Critical (MUSiC) experiment conducted at NCERC in 2021, which also used RF hemishells, but contains a large central cavity to allow for a sample plate to be inserted. This large void means that much more HEU is needed to achieve a critical configuration (108 kg for PFUNS versus 59 kg for MUSiC). This work describes the 2024 experiment execution of four critical configurations and two irradiations for the PFUNS project.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Reaction Rate Ratios for Recent Fast Metal Experiments with Large Plutonium Masses

Reaction rate ratios are integral responses that are used within the criticality experiments field because they contain spectral information. While these types of measurements have been utilized for nuclear data validation with historic experiments, few experiments of this type have been utilized for recent experiments, as few exist. This work focuses on measured reaction rate ratios for two nearly bare plutonium critical assemblies with different geometries: one that is cube like (with a Pu mass of 40 kg) and one that is slab like (with a Pu mass of 109 kg). Irradiations were performed with both configurations in which foils were placed near the center of the assembly. Plutonium, highly enriched uranium, depleted uranium, and Au foils were included in the irradiation and counted via high-purity germanium detectors. From these measurements, reaction rate ratios were calculated. Measured and simulated values and uncertainties are presented for the reaction rate ratios. Ratios utilizing the following reactions are given in this work: 197 Au(n, γ), 197 Au(n,2n), 235 U(n,fission), 238 U(n, fission), 238 U(n,2n), 238 U(n,γ), and 239 Pu(n,fission). Uncertainties for the measured reaction rate ratios ranged from 4% to 7%, and the contribution of various parameters to this uncertainty was investigated. The results are compared to historical experiments and should be used for nuclear data validation for future nuclear data library releases. These measurements are part of the EUCLID (Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data) project, which utilizes measurement responses in addition to k eff (such as these reaction rate ratios) to help reduce uncertainties in 239 Pu nuclear data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Quantifying Burst Repeatability for Godiva IV

The minimum resolvable relative change in the neutron source emission of Godiva IV between bursts, i.e., burst repeatability, was quantified using a combination of activation monitors and a resistance temperature detector (RTD). Measurements support changes in the neutron source emission between bursts can be determined with a precision of 2.7%. The measurements were performed during a series of twelve Godiva IV bursts and were a collaborative effort between Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Gold, iron, nickel, and sulfur activation monitors were positioned in a sample holder in the central cavity of Godiva IV for each burst. The RTD is part of the Godiva burst diagnostic system and is in a fixed location in the safety block of Godiva IV. It is used to determine the temperature rise of the burst, i.e., the difference between the maximum temperature recorded during the burst and the initial temperature prior to the burst. Differences in either the specific activity of the activation monitor reactions, or the temperature rise can be used to determine the relative change in the neutron source emission for separate bursts, but historic results have proven that each method is susceptible to various sources of biases which generally cannot be isolated using a single method. We address this issue by applying both measurement methods and analyzing the correlation between them. The results presented in this work will be used to support future experiments with Godiva IV at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Spectrum Unfolding with the MC-15

The Multiplicity Counter 15 tube detector or MC-15 is an optimized detector designed for use in the field. It is composed of 15 3 He tubes embedded in high density polyethylene (HDPE). Recent work has explored expanding the use of the MC-15 beyond multiplicity counting to neutron dosimetry applications. Knowledge of the neutron energy spectrum information is required to use a detector as a neutron dosimeter. The MC-15 tube layout is shown in Figure 1. The unique layout makes it possible to use the detector for neutron spectroscopy via spectrum unfolding. Spectrum unfolding requires (1) energy dependence of the detector response, (2) a detector response matrix that precisely quantifies the response to mono-energetic neutrons, (3) an initial guess spectrum, (4) an unfolding algorithm, and (5) measured data (counts in the case of the MC-15). An energy dependent detector response matrix (DRM) can be constructed by considering either each of the three rows of 3 He tubes as a distinct detector or each individual tube as a distinct detector. The HDPE separating the 3 He in the MC-15 provides the distinct energy dependent response for the rows and individual tubes. In this report we detail the development of detector response matrices for the MC-15 and the application of the Los Alamos Unfolding Code (LUC) to both simulated and measured data. Three MC-15 orientations were studied: (1) standard orientation with the MC-15 front facing the source, (2) standard orientation with Cd sheet, (3) 90° orientation with the side of the MC-15 facing the source.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗