Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Conferences, Workshops, Symposiums, and Seminars
  4. Sub-critical gamma noise measurements in the CROCUS zero-power reactor
 
conference paper

Sub-critical gamma noise measurements in the CROCUS zero-power reactor

Darby, F. B.
•
Pakari, O. V.
•
Hua, M. Y.
Show more
2024
Proceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024
International Conference on Physics of Reactors

Monitoring and verification o f t he n uclear f uel c ycle r equires t echnology a t e very s tep including power generation. Monitoring the count rate from a nuclear reactor core in neutron detectors is an effective way to confirm the power level as well as startup and shutdown ac tivities. For low power facilities, the steady state count rate in sub-critical and delayed critical states can be indistinguishable. Temporal analysis of fission c hain r eactions, a lso k nown a s “noise” a nalysis, c an d istinguish the reactor kinetic state. The CROCUS zero-power reactor has been studied comprehensively with detectors measuring the time-correlated noise of the reactor core at critical. In this work, we place two trans-stilbene detectors set in the CROCUS moderator to measure the prompt neutron decay constant (α) at critical and in several sub-critical states. We conduct four, two-hour measurements at the critical water level (960 mm, p = 0 $), and three sub-critical water levels (800-900 mm corresponding to p = [−0.5, −0.9, −1.4] $ respectively; p estimates are derived from Serpent 2 simulations in prior work). We analyze the (γ,γ) cross power spectral density distribution from each measurement and calculate values of α = [151.8 ± 0.7, 213.6 ± 1.7, 264.5 ± 2.8, 333.0 ± 5.0] s−1 for the p = [0, −0.5, −0.9, −1.4] $ cases respectively. Additionally, we extrapolate the α value at critical from sub-critical α estimates with a linear fit dependent on p yielding α = [150.4 ± 2.1] s−1

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
conference paper
DOI
10.13182/PHYSOR24-43501
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85202793104

Author(s)
Darby, F. B.
•
Pakari, O. V.
•
Hua, M. Y.
•
Lamirand, V. P.  
•
Clarke, S. D.
•
Pautz, A.  
•
Pozzi, S. A.
Date Issued

2024

Publisher

American Nuclear Society

Published in
Proceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024
ISBN of the book

9780894487972

Start page

118

End page

127

Subjects

gamma noise

•

Reactor noise

•

subcritical

•

subcritical system kinetics

•

system kinetics

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LRS  
Event nameEvent acronymEvent placeEvent date
International Conference on Physics of Reactors

San Francisco, United States

2024-04-21 - 2024-04-24

FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

EPFL

Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration

DE-NA0003920

Available on Infoscience
January 26, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/244722
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés