Cumulative fission yields of short-lived isotopes under natural-abundance-boron-carbide-moderated neutron spectrum

  • Erin C. Finn
  • Lori Metz
  • Larry Greenwood
  • Bruce Pierson
  • Richard Wittman
  • Judah Friese
  • Rosara Kephart
Article
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Abstract

This work expands the availability of energy-resolved short-lived cumulative fission product yields for 235,238,233U, 239Pu, and 237Np subjected to a 2$ pulse in the Washington State University TRIGA reactor. A boron carbide capsule tailored the neutron spectrum, creating a spectrum with an average energy of 700 keV, similar to fast reactor spectra and approaching that of 235U fission. Unique gamma spectra were collected from 4 min to 1 week after fission using high purity germanium detectors. Measured cumulative fission product yields generally agree well with published fast pooled fission product yield values from ENDF/B-VII, though a bias was noted for 239Pu.

Keywords

Short-lived fission products Cumulative fission product yield Neutron spectrum Boron carbide TRIGA pulse 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The work was funded by the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development within the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory which is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RLO1830. The team at PNNL gratefully acknowledges Jessica Drader and the staff at the Washington State University Dodgen Research Facility and research reactor for their assistance in the irradiations of these samples: CC Hines, MD King, and D Wall. This document is PNNL-SA-105467.

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Copyright information

© Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Erin C. Finn
    • 1
  • Lori Metz
    • 1
  • Larry Greenwood
    • 1
  • Bruce Pierson
    • 2
  • Richard Wittman
    • 1
  • Judah Friese
    • 1
  • Rosara Kephart
    • 1
    • 3
  1. 1.Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryRichlandUSA
  2. 2.University of MichiganAnn ArborUSA
  3. 3.Air Force Technical Applications CenterPatrick Air Force BaseUSA

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