Analysis of a hypothetical criticality accident in a waste supercompactor

M. J. Plaster; B. Basoglu; C. L. Bentley; M. E. Dunn; A. E. Ruggles; A. D. Wilkinson; T. Yamamoto; H. L. Dodds

doi:10.13182/NT95-A35131

Analysis of a hypothetical criticality accident in a waste supercompactor

M. J. Plaster, B. Basoglu, C. L. Bentley, M. E. Dunn, A. E. Ruggles, A. D. Wilkinson, T. Yamamoto, H. L. Dodds

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Abstract

A hypothetical nuclear criticality accident in a waste supercompactor is examined. The material being compressed in the compactor is a homogeneous mixture of beryllium and ²³⁹Pu. The point-kinetics equations with simple thermal-hydraulic feedback are used to model the transient behavior of the system. A lumped-parameter energy balance is used to determine the bulk temperature of the system. A computer code has been developed to solve the model equations. The computer code calculates the fission power history, fission yield, bulk temperature of the system, and several other thermal-hydraulic parameters of interest. Calculations have been performed for the waste supercompactor for various material misloading configurations. The peak power for the various accident scenarios varies from 1.04 × 10¹⁷ to 4.85 × 10²⁰ fissions per second (fps). The total yield varies from 8.21 × 10¹⁷ to 7.73 × 10¹⁸ fissions, and the bulk temperature of the system varies from 412 to > 912 K.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	219-226
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nuclear Technology
Volume	111
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35131
State	Published - 1995
Externally published	Yes

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title = "Analysis of a hypothetical criticality accident in a waste supercompactor",

abstract = "A hypothetical nuclear criticality accident in a waste supercompactor is examined. The material being compressed in the compactor is a homogeneous mixture of beryllium and 239Pu. The point-kinetics equations with simple thermal-hydraulic feedback are used to model the transient behavior of the system. A lumped-parameter energy balance is used to determine the bulk temperature of the system. A computer code has been developed to solve the model equations. The computer code calculates the fission power history, fission yield, bulk temperature of the system, and several other thermal-hydraulic parameters of interest. Calculations have been performed for the waste supercompactor for various material misloading configurations. The peak power for the various accident scenarios varies from 1.04 × 1017 to 4.85 × 1020 fissions per second (fps). The total yield varies from 8.21 × 1017 to 7.73 × 1018 fissions, and the bulk temperature of the system varies from 412 to > 912 K.",

author = "Plaster, {M. J.} and B. Basoglu and Bentley, {C. L.} and Dunn, {M. E.} and Ruggles, {A. E.} and Wilkinson, {A. D.} and T. Yamamoto and Dodds, {H. L.}",

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AU - Plaster, M. J.

AU - Basoglu, B.

AU - Bentley, C. L.

AU - Dunn, M. E.

AU - Ruggles, A. E.

AU - Wilkinson, A. D.

AU - Yamamoto, T.

AU - Dodds, H. L.

PY - 1995

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AB - A hypothetical nuclear criticality accident in a waste supercompactor is examined. The material being compressed in the compactor is a homogeneous mixture of beryllium and 239Pu. The point-kinetics equations with simple thermal-hydraulic feedback are used to model the transient behavior of the system. A lumped-parameter energy balance is used to determine the bulk temperature of the system. A computer code has been developed to solve the model equations. The computer code calculates the fission power history, fission yield, bulk temperature of the system, and several other thermal-hydraulic parameters of interest. Calculations have been performed for the waste supercompactor for various material misloading configurations. The peak power for the various accident scenarios varies from 1.04 × 1017 to 4.85 × 1020 fissions per second (fps). The total yield varies from 8.21 × 1017 to 7.73 × 1018 fissions, and the bulk temperature of the system varies from 412 to > 912 K.

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Analysis of a hypothetical criticality accident in a waste supercompactor

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