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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Monte Carlo Dropout Uncertainty Quantification of Long Short-Term Memory Autoencoder Anomaly Detection in a Liquid Sodium Cold Trap

Advanced high-temperature fluid reactors, such as sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) and molten salt–cooled reactors (MSCRs), require coolant purification systems to prevent fluid contamination and local freezing that can lead to plugging. Liquid sodium purification can be achieved with a cold trap, where the sodium temperature is reduced to a near-freezing point to precipitate out impurities. Automation of monitoring of the cold trap performance with machine learning algorithms can aid in early detection of incipient anomalies. An efficient approach to loss-of-coolant–type anomaly detection in a cold trap monitored with more than two dozen thermal-hydraulic sensors consists of a long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder. This work develops the uncertainty quantification of the LSTM autoencoder performance for cold trap anomaly detection using the Monte Carlo (MC) dropout method. The MC dropout methodology creates a distribution of sister distributions that all slightly differ from each other because of random neurons being turned off for testing. The variances of the sister network distributions are used to make an uncertainty interval. Our analysis shows that the uncertainty in the autoencoder performance is largest near the peak of the anomaly signal. Using the MC dropout method, we investigate the uncertainty in the anomaly detection with missing sensor inputs. This capability allows the reactor operator to evaluate resilience of the anomaly detection system and to make informed decisions about continuity of operation in the event of sensor failure.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Final report on assessment of molten salt corrosion testing of unirradiated and ion irradiated advanced manufactured high entropy alloys

Generation IV reactors and future fusion reactor designs have led to more demanding materials performance requirements due to their increased operating temperatures, corrosive coolants, and increased radiation doses compared to the current light-water reactor fleet. Among the innovative nuclear technologies under development, molten salt reactors stand out for their potential to offer superior fuel utilization, intrinsic safety characteristics, and economic viability. Of the proposed Generation IV designs, the gas fast reactor operates at 450 to 850°C and the molten salt reactor operates at 565 to 850°C, with the molten salt reactor design needing molten salt corrosion resistant materials [1, 2]. These increased temperatures and more extreme corrosion environments necessitate higher material performance, such as creep strength, radiation-tolerant microstructures, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature tensile properties. Hastelloy-N, a nickel-based alloy with additions of molybdenum and chromium, has been successfully employed to contain molten fluoride salt at temperatures up to 705°C. However, Hastelloy-N becomes embrittled upon neutron irradiation, primarily due to the accumulation of helium produced by (n,a) transmutation reactions. Furthermore, the corrosive nature of molten fluoride and chloride salts presents a formidable challenge, as these salts can react with and dissolve alloying elements such as Cr, Mo, and Fe, leading to selective leaching, loss of protective oxide layers, and accelerated degradation. High entropy alloys (HEAs) and refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) have emerged as a prominent area of interest, due to their ability to achieve tailored chemical compositions for specific applications. Unlike conventional alloys, HEAs are characterized by having multiple principal elements in equimolar or near equimolar ratios, leading to an unconventional alloying strategy [3]. This alloying strategy is believed to promote unique properties, such as single-phase stabilization of chemically compatible elements, lattice distortion effects due to atomic radius differences, and proposed sluggish diffusion effects. For extreme-environment applications, RHEAs have garnered much research interest because of the possibility of creating relatively ductile materials that can operate in extremely high-temperature environments, beyond the operating temperatures where other Ni-based superalloys begin to lose strength [4-6]. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a joint international effort with the Czech Republic to explore the feasibility of manufacturing HEAs for high-temperature nuclear applications using advanced manufacturing. This effort was funded at INL by the United States Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy under the Advanced Reactor Technologies and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) Program. The HEAs were specifically designed for the corrosive and irradiation environments experienced in gas-cooled fast reactors, molten salt reactors, and fusion power. These alloys have been manufactured by multiple processes to determine the impact of manufacturing processes on the performance of the alloys in corrosive and irradiation environments. Preliminary molten salt corrosion testing showed that equimolar MoNbTiV and MoNbTi alloys exhibit exceptional performance, with arc-melted variants demonstrating only minimal degradation after 1000 hours of exposure to molten chloride salt at 700°C. Conversely, Nb2TiVZr2 showed significant molten salt corrosion susceptibility and microstructural instability during high-temperature molten salt exposures, and was, therefore deemed unfit for molten salt reactor applications. The MoNbTiV, MoNbTi, and Nb2TiVZr2 alloys were further evaluated through ion irradiation experiments conducted at the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory at the University of Michigan. The microstructural stability and the evolution of irradiation-induced defects were characterized to assess the irradiation resistance of each of these alloys.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Development of a diversity and defense-in-depth strategy for the TerraPower TWR-P Advanced nuclear power plant - 380

A Diversity and Defense in Depth (D3) analysis was performed for the Traveling Wave Reactor, which is a Generation IV fast reactor design. The analysis demonstrated that the current I and C design for TWR-P provides sufficient diversity in the reactor shutdown system, the engineered safety features, and the post-accident monitoring system. In addition, an analysis was performed for the Embedded Digital Devices (EDD) to ensure a postulated Software Common Cause Failure (SWCCF) will not affect the safety functions of the TWR-P I and C system. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Integration of a Wigner effect-based energy storage system with an advanced nuclear reactor

In this work, an innovative energy storage concept based on the purposeful creation of defects in crystalline material by neutron irradiation is presented. Lattice defects are generated when heavy particles collide with the atoms in a crystal structure, i.e., if the incoming particles have enough energy, recoil atoms are displaced from their initial lattice sites. Most of the displaced atoms will eventually combine with nearby vacancies, but some of them will come to rest in non-ideal locations. The energy held by displaced atoms is called Wigner energy. Lattice defects can migrate and form clusters, and the Wigner energy can be released from these groupings if sufficient activation energy is provided. In the nuclear industry, this effect is well-known since it represented an issue for graphite-moderated reactors. This work presents the conceptual design of an engineering system that exploits this physical process to store the energy of neutrons in advanced reactor concepts. In the first part of the paper, the theoretical performance of an energy storage system based on the Wigner effect is described. Given the lattice properties and the compatibility with the harsh reactor environment, graphite was selected as the candidate material for the irradiation targets. Both experimental data and molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that this system can achieve performance comparable with state-of-the-art batteries in terms of stored energy density. In the second part of the paper, the engineering challenges of this innovative technology and the proposed solutions are described. After defining the optimal irradiation conditions, the different steps of the operation of the proposed energy system (from energy storing to energy harvesting) were defined. Finally, the integration of this concept with advanced reactor designs, i.e., a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor and a Molten Salt-cooled Reactor, was investigated and the corresponding performance was evaluated.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Alternate Tritium Production Methods Using a Liquid Lithium Target

For over 60 years, the Savannah River Site’s primary mission has been the production of tritium. From the beginning, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has provided the technical foundation to ensure the successful execution of this critical defense mission. SRNL has developed most of the processes used in the tritium mission and provides the research and development necessary to supply this critical component. This project was executed by first developing reactor models that could be used as a neutron source. In parallel to this development calculations were carried out testing the feasibility of accelerator technologies that could also be used for tritium production. Targets were designed with internal moderating material and optimized target was calculated to be capable of 3000 grams using a 1400 MWt sodium fast reactor, 850 grams using a 400 MWt sodium fast reactor, and 100 grams using a 62 MWt reactor, annually.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

The characterization of microstructure and chemistry of transmutation fuels

The goal of the fast reactor development programs is fabrication and certification of a nuclear fuel system that performs all functions of a conventional fuel while destroying recycled actinides. Metal fuels, such as U-Pu-Zr fuels, are considered to be candidates for this application. The physical and mechanical properties, as well as behavior laws and correlations of metal alloy fuel, all of which define the behavior and performance of metal alloy fuels has been investigated in detail. The results indicated that the prospect for fueling a future fast spectrum reactor using metal fuels is excellent. There are several challenges associated with the fuel implementation in reactor environment. One of the limiting factors in lifetime and safety of thermal and fast reactor systems is fuel swelling and resulting fission product transport to cladding. Understanding diffusion kinetics and phases formed between metal fuel and cladding upon exposure to high temperatures typical in reactor environment is critical for ensuring integrity, safety, and performance of the material, advancement of this type of fuel in the future, and securing long-term success of the nuclear fleet. The first step to understanding fuel-cladding interaction is investigation of an as-cast fuel microstructure. Despite the importance of these fuels, detailed description of microstructures in these materials is extremely limited. The majority of published results are based on characterization of as-cast microstructures of these fuels in scanning electron microscopes (SEM). In this work, we present the results from microstructural characterization of metallic Pu-based fuels, which is essential in the validation of current and future atomistic and meso-scale modeling efforts. A firm understanding of microstructural evolution in reactor materials is imperative and will lead to deeper understanding of in-reactor degradation behavior, creating a new generation of radiation-resistant materials and fuels with the potential for significant increases in burn-up.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Coupling the System Analysis Module with SAS4A/SASSYS-1

SAS4A/SASSYS-1 is a simulation tool used to perform deterministic analysis of anticipated events as well as design basis and beyond design basis accidents for advanced reactors, with an emphasis on sodium fast reactors. SAS4A/SASSYS-1 has been under development and in active use for nearly forty-five years, and is currently maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy under the Office of Advanced Reactor Technology. Although SAS4A/SASSYS-1 contains a very capable primary and intermediate system modeling component, PRIMAR-4, it also has some shortcomings: outdated data management and code structure makes extension of the PRIMAR-4 module somewhat difficult. The user input format for PRIMAR-4 also limits the number of volumes and segments that can be used to describe a given system. The System Analysis Module (SAM) is a fairly new code development effort being carried out under the U.S. DOE Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. SAM is being developed with advanced physical models, numerical methods, and software engineering practices; however, it is currently somewhat limited in the system components and phenomena that can be represented. For example, component models for electromagnetic pumps and multi-layer stratified volumes have not yet been developed. Nor is there support for a balance of plant model. Similarly, system-level phenomena such as control-rod driveline expansion and vessel elongation are not represented. This report documents fiscal year 2016 work that was carried out to couple the transient safety analysis capabilities of SAS4A/SASSYS-1 with the system modeling capabilities of SAM under the joint support of the ART and NEAMS programs. The coupling effort was successful and is demonstrated by evaluating an unprotected loss of flow transient for the Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR) design. There are differences between the stand-alone SAS4A/SASSYS-1 simulations and the coupled SAS/SAM simulations, but these are mainly attributed to the limited maturity of the SAM development effort. The severe accident modeling capabilities in SAS4A/SASSYS-1 (sodium boiling, fuel melting and relocation) will continue to play a vital role for a long time. Therefore, the SAS4A/SASSYS-1 modernization effort should remain a high priority task under the ART program to ensure continued participation in domestic and international SFR safety collaborations and design optimizations. On the other hand, SAM provides an advanced system analysis tool, with improved numerical solution schemes, data management, code flexibility, and accuracy. SAM is still in early stages of development and will require continued support from NEAMS to fulfill its potential and to mature into a production tool for advanced reactor safety analysis. The effort to couple SAS4A/SASSYS-1 and SAM is the first step on the integration of these modeling capabilities.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Validation Gap Assessment of a MAP Package Containing Fresh, Metallic Sodium-Cooled Fuel

This report describes an assessment of sodium fast reactor assemblies loaded within an AREVA MAP package. The assessment was performed to determine the state of the validation basis for sodium fast reactor fuel within a transportation package originally intended for fresh, light-water reactor fuel assemblies. A similar study is being simultaneously released (Cumberland, 2025), and substantial parts of the explanatory text are identical to that parallel work, which follows the same workflow. Both studies employed the TSUNAMI-3D and TSUNAMI-IP sequences from the SCALE code system to determine correlation coefficients between various configurations and databases of validation assessments.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Validation Gap Assessment of a TN B1 Package Containing Fresh, Metallic Sodium-Cooled Fuel

This report describes an assessment of sodium fast reactor assemblies loaded inside a Transnuclear B1 package. The assessment was performed to determine the state of the validation basis for sodium fast reactor fuel within a transportation package originally intended for fresh, light-water reactor fuel assemblies. The study employed the TSUNAMI-3D and TSUNAMI-IP sequences from the SCALE code system to determine correlation coefficients between various configurations and databases of validation assessments.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

CP-1 70th Anniversary Symposium

Dr. Harold Agnew, retired director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and one of 49 people present on December 2, 1942 when the world’s first man-made controlled nuclear chain reaction was achieved with the CP-1 reactor, and Dr. Len Koch, one of Argonne’s earliest staff members and a designer of EBR-I, the first liquid metal-cooled fast reactor, spoke about their early work during “The Dawn of the Nuclear Age”, a Director’s Special Symposium held as one of the events to commemorate the 70th anniversary year of CP-1 achieving criticality. The symposium was moderated by Dr. Charles Till, a retired Argonne associate laboratory director who led Argonne’s nuclear engineering programs throughout the 1980’s and ‘90’s. Dr. Agnew painted a vivid picture of the challenges and rewards of working in Enrico Fermi’s group under strict security conditions and the complete faith all in the group had in Fermi’s analyses. He stated that no one ever doubted that CP-1 would achieve criticality, and when the moment came, those present acknowledged the accomplishment with little more than a subdued toast of chianti from a bottle provided by reactor physicist Eugene Wigner. This experimental work on nuclear reactors was continued in the Chicago area and led first by Fermi and then Walter Zinn, another member of Fermi’s CP-1 group, resulting in the formal establishment of Argonne National Laboratory on July 1, 1946. Dr. Koch described how much he enjoyed working at Argonne through the 1950’s and ‘60’s and contributing to many of the research “firsts” that Argonne achieved in the nuclear energy field and led to the foundation of the commercial nuclear power generation industry. His reminiscences about all that was achieved with EBR-I and how that work then led into Argonne’s design, building, and operation of EBR-II as a full demonstration of a fast reactor power plant brought Argonne’s nuclear energy legacy to life for everyone in the auditorium. These engaging presentations prompted a number of questions from the audience, which showed its appreciation for both speakers by ending the symposium with a standing ovation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Local Gas Purification System in Spent Nitride Fuel Oxidation

A local gas-purification system of the voloxidation operation is examined within the framework of the technology of regeneration of spent mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel from fast reactors. The system includes a metal-fabric filter, HEPA filter, ruthenium capture unit, an adsorber for capturing iodine, a unit for additional oxidation and trapping of hydrogen (tritium), and a unit for capturing {sup 14}CO{sub 2}. A description is given of each unit, the overall scheme, and the possibilities of the gas-purification system.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Use and Impact of Covariance Data in the Japanese Latest Adjusted Library ADJ2010 Based on JENDL-4.0

The current status of covariance applications to fast reactor analysis and design in Japan is summarized. In Japan, the covariance data are mainly used for three purposes: (1) to quantify the uncertainty of nuclear core parameters, (2) to identify important nuclides, reactions and energy ranges which are dominant to the uncertainty of core parameters, and (3) to improve the accuracy of core design values by adopting the integral data such as the critical experiments and the power reactor operation data. For the last purpose, the cross section adjustment based on the Bayesian theorem is used. After the release of JENDL-4.0, a development project of the new adjusted group-constant set ADJ2010 was started in 2010 and completed in 2013. In the present paper, the final results of ADJ2010 are briefly summarized. In addition, the adjustment results of ADJ2010 are discussed from the viewpoint of use and impact of nuclear data covariances, focusing on {sup 239}Pu capture cross section alterations. For this purpose three kind of indices, called “degree of mobility,” “adjustment motive force,” and “adjustment potential,” are proposed.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

The Potential Role of the Thorium Fuel Cycle in Reducing the Radiotoxicity of Long-Lived Waste - 13477

The thorium (or more accurately the Th-232/U-233) fuel cycle is attracting growing interest world wide and one reason for this is the reduced radiotoxicity of long-lived waste, with the Th- 232/U-233 fuel cycle often being justified partly on the grounds of low radiotoxicity for long cooling times. This paper considers the evolution of heavy metal radiotoxicity in a Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) operating a closed Th-232/U-233 cycle during different operational phases. The paper shows that even in the MSFR core, the equilibrium radiotoxicity of the thorium fuel cycle is only reached after almost 100 years of operation. MSFR was chosen because it has many theoretical advantages that favour the Th-232/U-233 fuel cycle. Conventional solid fuel systems would be expected to behave similarly, but with even longer timescales and therefore the MSFR cycle can be used to define the limits of what is practically achievable. The results are used to argue the case that a fair approach to justifying the Th-232/U-233 breeder cycle should not quote the long term equilibrium radiotoxicity, but rather the somewhat less favourable radiotoxicity that could be achieved within the operational lifetime of the first generation of Th-232/U-233 breeder reactors. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Vitrification of IFR and MSBR halide salt reprocessing wastes

Both of the genuinely sustainable (breeder) nuclear fuel cycles (IFR - Integral Fast Reactor - and MSBR - Molten Salt Breeder Reactor -) studied by the USA's national laboratories would generate high level reprocessing waste (HLRW) streams consisting of a relatively small amount ( about 4 mole %) of fission product halide (chloride or fluoride) salts in a matrix comprised primarily (about 95 mole %) of non radioactive alkali metal halide salts. Because leach resistant glasses cannot accommodate much of any of the halides, most of the treatment scenarios previously envisioned for such HLRW have assumed a monolithic waste form comprised of a synthetic analog of an insoluble crystalline halide mineral. In practice, this translates to making a 'substituted' sodalite ('Ceramic Waste Form') of the IFR's chloride salt-based wastes and fluoroapatite of the MSBR's fluoride salt-based wastes. This paper discusses my experimental studies of an alternative waste management scenario for both fuel cycles that would separate/recycle the waste's halide and immobilize everything else in iron phosphate (Fe-P) glass. It will describe both how the work was done and what its results indicate about how a treatment process for both of those wastes should be implemented (fluoride and chloride behave differently). In either case, this scenario's primary advantages include much higher waste loadings, much lower overall cost, and the generation of a product (glass) that is more consistent with current waste management practices. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

DIF3D-VARIANT 11.0: A Decade of Updates

The DIF3D code has been a workhorse of fast reactor analysis work at Argonne National Laboratory for over 30 years. In 1995, a transport option called VARIANT was added to DIF3D to improve the flux solutions for fast reactor problems. VARIANT performs nodal neutron transport calculations using PN or SPN theory in Cartesian and hexagonal two- and threedimensional geometries. Because of the computing capabilities at that time, VARIANT was restricted to 33 group P3 flux approximations with P1 scattering. Clearly computer memory capabilities have increased since then and thus large space-angle-energy approximations are possible. This manuscript serves as an update to the theory section of the original manual and details more than a decade worth of changes made to DIF3D to make DIF3D 11.0.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

DIF3D-VARIANT 12.0: Updates and New Features

The DIF3D code has been a workhorse of fast reactor analysis work at Argonne National Laboratory for over 40 years. In 1995, a transport option called VARIANT was added to DIF3D to improve the flux solutions for fast reactor problems which we term DIF3D-VARIANT today. DIF3D-VARIANT performs nodal neutron transport calculations using P N or SP N theory in Cartesian and hexagonal two- and three-dimensional geometries. The limited computing capabilities of the time restricted DIF3D-VARIANT to use at most a 6 th order spatial approximation combined with a P3 flux approximation and P1 scattering kernel for a 33 group structure on most studied reactor problems. Computer capabilities have increased steadily since 1995 and today much larger space-angle-energy approximations are possible. This manuscript serves as an update to the theory section of the original DIF3D-VARIANT manual and details more than twenty years of changes made to DIF3D to make version 12 which was released on November 1 st , 2024. The primary focus of the initial work was to extend the space-angle approximations available in DIF3D-VARIANT such that the error due to transport approximations could be better understood. This work was started and completed in 2002 and marked the official version 10. Unfortunately, those higher order approximations could not be used at that time due to the memory constraints of the BPOINTER part of DIF3D (limited to 2 GB). In version 11, completed in 2012, BPOINTER was circumvented in DIF3D-VARIANT for the largest arrays by introducing a Fortran 90 module called LMA (Large Memory Array). This seamlessly replaces all of the functionality of the BPOINTER concept, but it allows 64 bit addressing for every array such that they can be larger than 2 GB. It is now common for DIF3D-VARIANT jobs to consume 50 GB of memory on modern workstations when using high order space-angle approximations and a large number of groups. Many improvements were made to version 11 from 2012 to 2022 when work to create version 12 started. For version 12, several parts of DIF3D were updated to improve performance and thread parallelism was introduced to further reduce the runtime. Numerous minor bugs were discovered in DIF3D-VARIANT as part of the process of creating the perturbation and sensitivity code PERSENT. All of these algorithmic problems were identified in the transition from version 10 to version 11 which prevented DIF3D-VARIANT from running efficiently and reliably. Firstly, the coarse mesh rebalance scheme would routinely diverge and a study detailed in this report demonstrates how it was also typically not effective. This is not a failure of the coarse mesh rebalance methodology, but a failure of its implementation in DIF3D-VARIANT for hexagonal geometries. The fission source extrapolation algorithm was also found to be unreliable on larger group structure problems, leading to divergence in some cases and a negligible improvement in performance overall. Finally, the “Omega” acceleration applied to the partial current solver routine of DIF3D-VARIANT was found to cause DIF3D-VARIANT to converge to the wrong answer. To resolve these issues, both the coarse mesh rebalance and fission source extrapolation were permanently disabled in version 11. The Tchebychev acceleration was put in as a temporary reliable alternative but it is generally inferior to coarse mesh rebalance or coarse mesh finite difference. For the Omega acceleration, the factor was restricted to guarantee that it would not cause follow-on errors in PERSENT. Due to limited funding to support maintenance and development of DIF3D in the last 10 years, no effort was spent since to resolve the outer iteration acceleration. Except for the threading work, all of the changes discussed in this manuscript refer to changes made between version 10 and version 11. Performance comparisons are done to demonstrate the improvements from version 9 to version 12. As will be demonstrated, the updated versi

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article - Fiscal Year 2022 Final Report

The Thermal Hydraulic Experimental Test Article (THETA) is a METL vessel experiment designed for testing and validating sodium fast reactor components and phenomena. THETA has been scaled using a non-dimensional Richardson number approach to represent temperature distributions during nominal and loss of flow conditions in a sodium fast reactor (SFR), this analysis was detailed in the THETA FY19 report. The facility is being constructed with versatility in mind, allowing for the installation of various immersion heaters, heat pipes, and heat exchangers without significant facility modification. THETA was designed in collaboration with systems code experts to inform the geometry and sensor placement to acquire the highest value code validation data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cumulative fission yields of short-lived isotopes under natural-abundance-boron-carbide-moderated neutron spectrum

The availability of gamma spectroscopy data on samples containing mixed fission products at short times after irradiation is limited. Due to this limitation, data interpretation methods for gamma spectra of mixed fission product samples, where the individual fission products have not been chemically isolated from interferences, are not well-developed. The limitation is particularly pronounced for fast pooled neutron spectra because of the lack of available fast reactors in the United States. Samples containing the actinide isotopes 233, 235, 238U, 237Np, and 239Pu individually were subjected to a 2$ pulse in the Washington State University 1 MW TRIGA reactor. To achieve a fission-energy neutron spectrum, the spectrum was tailored using a natural abundance boron carbide capsule to absorb neutrons in the thermal and epithermal region of the spectrum. Our tailored neutron spectrum is unique to the WSU reactor facility, consisting of a soft fission spectrum that contains some measurable flux in the resonance region. This results in a neutron spectrum at greater than 0.1 keV with an average energy of 70 keV, similar to fast reactor spectra and approaching that of 235U fission. Unique fission product gamma spectra were collected from 4 minutes to 1 week after fission using single-crystal high purity germanium detectors. Cumulative fission product yields measured in the current work generally agree with published fast pooled fission product yield values from ENDF/B-VII, though a bias was noted for 239Pu. The present work contributes to the compilation of energy-resolved fission product yield nuclear data for nuclear forensic purposes.

Finn, Erin C.↗