TY - GEN
T1 - Use of thermal-neutron time-correlated counting to analyze multiplying assemblies of HEU
AU - Chichester, David L.
AU - Kinlaw, Mathew T.
AU - Watson, Scott M.
AU - Kalter, Jeffrey M.
AU - Miller, Eric C.
AU - Noonan, William A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 IEEE.
PY - 2016/3/10
Y1 - 2016/3/10
N2 - A series of experiments and numerical simulations using thermal-neutron time-correlated measurements has been performed to determine the neutron multiplication, M, of assemblies of highly-enriched uranium available at Idaho National Laboratory. The experiments used up to 14.4 kg of highly-enriched uranium, including bare assemblies and assemblies reflected with high-density polyethylene, carbon steel, and tungsten. A small 252Cf source was used to initiate fission chains within the assembly. Both the experiments and the simulations used 6-channel and 8-channel detector systems, each consisting of 3He proportional counters moderated with polyethylene; data was recorded in list mode for analysis. 'True' multiplication values for each assembly were empirically derived using basic neutron production and loss values determined through simulation. A total of one-hundred sixteen separate measurements were performed using fifty-seven unique measurement scenarios, the multiplication varied from 1.75 to 10.90. This paper presents the results of these comparisons and discusses differences among the various cases.
AB - A series of experiments and numerical simulations using thermal-neutron time-correlated measurements has been performed to determine the neutron multiplication, M, of assemblies of highly-enriched uranium available at Idaho National Laboratory. The experiments used up to 14.4 kg of highly-enriched uranium, including bare assemblies and assemblies reflected with high-density polyethylene, carbon steel, and tungsten. A small 252Cf source was used to initiate fission chains within the assembly. Both the experiments and the simulations used 6-channel and 8-channel detector systems, each consisting of 3He proportional counters moderated with polyethylene; data was recorded in list mode for analysis. 'True' multiplication values for each assembly were empirically derived using basic neutron production and loss values determined through simulation. A total of one-hundred sixteen separate measurements were performed using fifty-seven unique measurement scenarios, the multiplication varied from 1.75 to 10.90. This paper presents the results of these comparisons and discusses differences among the various cases.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84965002368
U2 - 10.1109/NSSMIC.2014.7431085
DO - 10.1109/NSSMIC.2014.7431085
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84965002368
T3 - 2014 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2014
BT - 2014 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2014
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, NSS/MIC 2014
Y2 - 8 November 2014 through 15 November 2014
ER -