Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements For The Afci Program Quarterly Progress Report September-December 2004, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

The U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is a program to develop economic and environmental methods to reduce the impact of waste from commercial nuclear fuel cycles. One concept for near-complete destruction of waste isotopes from used nuclear fuel is accelerator driven transmutation. High-power accelerators would be used to produce high-energy charged particles, which then collide with heavy metal targets to create a cascade of neutrons. These neutrons then cause a nuclear chain reaction in subcritical systems. Fission neutrons then transmute fissile waste isotopes as well as other problematic isotopes such as technetium-99 and iodine-129. To design these systems, complex …

Reactor Physics Studies For The Afci Race Project: Reactor-Accelerator Coupling Experiments Project: Quarterly Progress Report September-December 2004, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

In the RACE Project of the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), a series of accelerator driven subcritical systems (ADSS) experiments will be conducted at the Idaho State University’s Idaho Accelerator Center (ISU-IAC), at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, and at the Texas A&M University. In these experiments we will use electron accelerators to induce bremsstrahlung photon-neutron reactions in heavy-metal targets; this source of about 10¹² to 10¹³ n/s will then initiate fission reactions in the subcritical systems. These systems will include a compact, transportable assembly at ISU and TRIGA reactors at UT-Austin and Texas A&M. …

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements For The Afci Program Quarterly Progress Report June-August 2004, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

The U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is a program to develop economic and environmental methods to reduce the impact of waste from commercial nuclear fuel cycles. One concept for near-complete destruction of waste isotopes from used nuclear fuel is acceleratordriven transmutation. High-power accelerators would be used to produce high-energy charged particles, which then collide with heavy metal targets to create a cascade of neutrons. These neutrons then cause a nuclear chain reaction in subcritical systems. Fission neutrons then transmute fissile waste isotopes as well as other problematic isotopes such as technetium-99 and iodine-129. To design these systems, complex reactor …

Reactor Physics Studies For The Afci Race Project: Reactor-Accelerator Coupling Experiments Project, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

In the RACE Project of the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), a series of accelerator driven subcritical systems (ADSS) experiments will be conducted at the Idaho State University’s Idaho Accelerator Center (ISU-IAC), at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, and at the Texas A&M University. In these experiments we will use electron accelerators to induce bremsstrahlung photon-neutron reactions in heavy-metal targets; this source of about 10¹² to 10¹³ n/s will then initiate fission reactions in the subcritical systems. These systems will include a compact, transportable assembly at ISU and TRIGA reactors at UT-Austin and Texas A&M. …

Proposal For No-Cost Extension And Re-Scope For Unlv Trp Project: Neutron Multiplicity Measurements For The Afci Program (Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative), Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

The U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is a program to develop economic and environmental methods to reduce the impact of waste from commercial nuclear fuel cycles. One concept for near-complete destruction of waste isotopes from used nuclear fuel is accelerator-driven transmutation. High-power accelerators would be used to produce high-energy charged particles, which then collide with heavy metal targets to create a cascade of neutrons. These neutrons then cause a nuclear chain reaction in subcritical systems. Fission neutrons then transmute fissile waste isotopes as well as other problematic isotopes such as technetium-99 and iodine-129. To design these systems, complex reactor …

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements Of Target/Blanket Materials, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

To optimize the performance of accelerator-driven transmutation subcritical systems (ADS), engineers will need to design the system to operate with a neutron multiplication factor just below that of a critical, or self-sustaining, system. This design criterion requires particle transport codes that instill the highest level of confidence with minimal uncertainty, because larger uncertainties in the codes require larger safety margins in the design and result in a lower efficiency of the ADS transmuter. For current design efforts in the U.S., a Monte Carlo particle transport code MCNPX is used to model neutron production and transport for spallation neutron systems.

While …