Update of the Nuclear Criticality Slide Rule: Review of the estimation of the number of fissions

Matthieu Duluc, Johann Herth, Tristan Adatte, Dave Heinrichs, Soon Kim, Doug Bowen, Cihangir Celik, Mathieu Dupont

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

IRSN (France), LLNL (USA) and ORNL (USA) began a long-term collaboration effort in 2015 to update the nuclear criticality Slide Rule (https://ncsp.llnl.gov/analytical-methods/criticality-sliderule) for the emergency response to a nuclear criticality accident. The Slide Rule permits the estimation of neutron and gamma dose rates and integrated doses based upon estimated fission yields, as a function of distance from the fission source, and time after criticality accidents for different critical systems. This paper presents the review of the section “estimation of the number of fissions”, named “fission yield” in the Slide Rule document. This estimation is important because the other information provided by the Slide Rule is directly proportional to the number of fissions. The previous models, based on Hansen and Barbry formulae, will be presented with their associated assumptions and limitations. Then, new proposals will be presented with a comparison to past criticality accidents and experimental data. The new formulae, based on the heat energy equation, cover many types of criticality accidents (solution, dry or low-moderated powder, rods/assemblies in water and dry metal) and require limited information in an emergency situation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting, NCSD 2022 - Embedded with the 2022 ANS Annual Meeting
PublisherAmerican Nuclear Society
Pages446-455
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780894487859
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event2022 Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting, NCSD 2022 - Anaheim, United States
Duration: Jun 12 2022Jun 16 2022

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting, NCSD 2022 - Embedded with the 2022 ANS Annual Meeting

Conference

Conference2022 Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting, NCSD 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAnaheim
Period06/12/2206/16/22

Funding

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contracts DE-AC05-00OR22725 and DEAC52-07NA27344, respectively, and was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Criticality Safety Program and by Institut de Radioprotection et de S\u00FBret\u00E9 Nucl\u00E9aire.

FundersFunder number
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire
U.S. Department of Energy
Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryDE-AC05-00OR22725, DEAC52-07NA27344

    Keywords

    • Criticality accident
    • Slide Rule
    • number of fissions

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