Title of article
Submersioncriticalitysafetyoffastspectrumspacereactors:PotentialspectralshiftabsorbersOriginalResearchArticle
Author/Authors
JeffreyC.King، نويسنده , , MohamedS.El-Genk، نويسنده ,
Issue Information
روزنامه با شماره پیاپی سال 2006
Pages
17
From page
238
To page
254
Abstract
Compact,fastspectrum,nuclearreactorsarebeingconsideredtosupportNASAʹsfuturespaceexplorationsometimeinthenextdecade.Inordertosecurelaunchapproval,thesereactorsshouldremainsufficientlysubcriticalwhensubmergedinseawaterorwetsandandsubsequentlyflooded,followingalaunchabortaccident.Insuchanaccident,theneutronspectruminthereactoristhermalized,typicallyincreasingreactivity,andpotentiallymakingthereactorsupercritical.Incorporating“SpectralShiftAbsorbers”(orSSAs),whichhavesignificantlyhigherabsorptioncross-sectionsforthermalversusfastneutrons,couldoffsetthereactivityincrease.Ithasalwaysbeentheassertionthattheworst-casesubmersionaccidentinvolvesafullyfloodedreactor;however,thisworkshowsthat,dependingonthetypeandamountofSSAinthereactor,asubmergedbutunfloodedreactorcouldbemorereactive.AscreeningoftheexistingnucleardatabaseforpotentialSSAsyielded28elementsandnuclides,whichareexaminedindetailasadditivestoarepresentativehomogenousspacereactorcorebyvaryingtheSSA-to-U235atomratio.TheeffectofplacingathincoatingofdifferentSSAmaterialsontheoutsidesurfaceofthereactorcoreisalsoinvestigated.NineSSAs(boron-10,cadmium,cadmium-113,samarium-149,europium-151,gadolinium,gadolinium-155,gadolinium-157,andiridium)arerecommendedforfurtherconsiderationinactualspacereactordesigns.
Journal title
Nuclear Engineering and Design Eslah
Serial Year
2006
Journal title
Nuclear Engineering and Design Eslah
Record number
895988
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