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Fission Reactor Physics

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Nuclear Energy

Abstract

At the end of the nineteenth century and through the first half of the twentieth century, revolutionary discoveries were made in physics, and the laws of physics and our understanding of them were greatly expanded.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

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Abbreviations

Fissile:

Fissile isotopes are fissionable by the capture of neutrons of any energy, but are especially easily fissioned by the capture of slow neutrons, for example, U233, U235, Pu239, and Pu241.

Fertile:

Fertile isotopes may be transmuted into fissile isotopes by neutron capture. The naturally occurring fertile isotopes are Th232 and U238.

Critical:

A critical fission reactor is in a steady state, with its neutron population sustained by a chain reaction.

Reactivity:

Reactivity is a dimensionless parameter, which characterizes how far from critical a fission reactor is. If zero, the reactor is critical; if positive, the reactor is supercritical and its neutron population is increasing; if negative, the reactor is subcritical.

Microscopic cross section:

A microscopic cross section is a parameter, with dimensions of area, that is a measure of the probability of a particular reaction resulting from an incident particle on a target nucleus. The macroscopic cross section for this “particular” reaction is the microscopic cross section times the number density of the target nucleus.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Retired from the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, West Mifflin, PA, USA

    Dr. Michael Natelson Ph.D.

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  1. Dr. Michael Natelson Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Michael Natelson Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. La Paz Court 7320, Reno, 89511, Nevada, USA

    Nicholas Tsoulfanidis

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Natelson, M. (2013). Fission Reactor Physics. In: Tsoulfanidis, N. (eds) Nuclear Energy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5716-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5716-9_2

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