Skip to main content
Log in

Fission yield measurements from highly enriched uranium irradiated inside a boron carbide capsule

  • Published:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A boron carbide capsule was previously designed and tested by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Washington State University (WSU) for spectral-tailoring in mixed spectrum reactors. The presented work used this B4C capsule to create a fission product sample from the irradiation of highly enriched uranium (HEU) with a fast fission neutron spectrum. An HEU foil was irradiated inside of the capsule in WSU’s 1 MW TRIGA reactor at full power for 200 min to produce 5.8 × 1013 fissions. After 3 days of cooling, the sample was shipped to PNNL for radiochemical separations and analysis by gamma and beta spectroscopy. Fission yields for products were calculated from the radiometric measurements and compared to measurements from thermal neutron induced fission (analyzed in parallel with the non-thermal sample at PNNL) and published evaluated fast-pooled and thermal nuclear data. Reactor dosimetry measurements were also completed to fully characterize the neutron spectrum and total fluence of the irradiation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Selby HD, Mac Innes MR, Barr DW, Keksis AL, Meade RA, Burns CJ, Chadwick MB, Wallstrom TC (2010) Nucl Data Sheets 111:2891–2922

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Chadwick MB, Kawano T, Barr DW, Mac Innes MR, Kahler AC, Graves T, Selby H, Burns CJ, Inkret WC, Keksis AL, Lestone JP, Sierk AJ, Talou P (2010) Nucl Data Sheets 111:2923–2964

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Greenwood LR, Wittman R, Pierson BP, Metz LA, Kephart RF, Finn EC, Friese JI (2012) J ASTM International 9: published online http://www.astm.org/DIGITAL_LIBRARY/JOURNALS/JAI/PAGES/JAI103959.htm

  4. Finn EC, Friese JI, Greenwood LR, Kephart J, Metz LA, Kephart RF, Pierson BP (2012) J Radioanal Nucl Chem. doi:10.1007/s10967/s10967-012-1652-y

    Google Scholar 

  5. Douglas M, Friese JI, Greenwood LR, Farmer OT III, Thomas ML, Maiti TC, Finn EC, Garofoli SJ, Gassman PL, Huff MM, Schulte SM, Smith SC, Thomas KK, Bachelor PP (2009) J Radioanal Nucl Chem 282:63–68

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Payne RF, Schulte SM, Douglas M, Friese JI, Farmer OT III, Finn EC (2011) J Radioanal Nucl Chem 287:863–867

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Perey FG (1977) Least squares dosimetry unfolding: the program STAY’SL. ORNL/TM-6062, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (modified by Greenwood LR 2010)

  8. England TR, Rider BF (1994) Evaluation and compilation of fission product yields. LA-UR-94-3106, ENDF-349, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico

Download references

Acknowledgments

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. A. Metz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Metz, L.A., Friese, J.I., Finn, E.C. et al. Fission yield measurements from highly enriched uranium irradiated inside a boron carbide capsule. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 296, 763–767 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2089-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2089-z

Keywords

Navigation