Systematic Measurements and Analyses for Lead Void Reactivity Worth in a Plutonium Core and Two Uranium Cores with Different Enrichments

Abstract

To validate lead (Pb) nuclear cross sections, a series of integral experiments to measure lead void reactivity worth was conducted systematically in three fast neutron spectra with different fuel compositions on the Comet critical assembly of the National Criticality Experiments Research Center. Previous experiments in high-enriched uranium (HEU)/Pb and low-enriched uranium (LEU)/Pb systems had been performed in 2016 and 2017, respectively. A follow-on experiment in a plutonium (Pu)/Pb system has been completed. The Pu/Pb system was constructed using lead plates and weapons-grade Pu plates that had been used in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) of Argonne National Laboratory until the 1990s. Furthermore, the HEU/Pb system was reexamined on the Comet critical assembly with a newly installed device that can measure the compression of the stack, improving reproducibility. Using the lead void reactivity worth measured in these three cores with different fuel compositions, the latest nuclear data libraries, JENDL-4.0 and ENDF/B-VIII.0, were tested with the Monte Carlo calculation code MCNP® version 6.1. As a result, the calculations by ENDF/B-VIII.0 were confirmed to agree with lead void reactivity worth measured in all the cores. It was furthermore found that the calculations by JENDL-4.0 overestimate by more than 20% for the Pu/Pb core while being in good agreement for the HEU/Pb and LEU/Pb cores.

Keywords:

• Lead void reactivity worth
• ZPPR plutonium fuel
• enriched uranium fuel
• Comet critical assembly
• Zeus experiments

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Material Management and Minimization and by the DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program, funded and managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration for the DOE. The authors express thanks to all staff of the Device Assembly Facility and of the NCERC for supporting these experiments.

Notes

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