Abstract
Abstract In this paper, I present a criticality study on the Louis Slotin accident, which happened in Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LANL) on 21 May 1946. For the numerical reconstruction of the nuclear system, I used the Monte Carlo Continuous Energy Burnup Code (MCB) developed at the AGH University, Krakow, Poland (Akademia Gorniczo-Hutnicza w Krakowie). I present the influence of the environment on the system criticality in the laboratory at the time of the accident. I consider locations, geometry and material composition of the elements forming the nuclear system: the plutonium core, the beryllium reflector, the human body. The numerical approach consists of three steps. Firstly, the isotopic composition of the core is estimated using the criterion of 10 cents excess reactivity achieved during the accident. Secondly, the effective neutron multiplication factor in the function of the Be hemisphere angle above the Pu core is shown. Lastly, the influence of each system component on Keff is calculated. Additionally, the influence of the position of Slotin’s hand on the criticality and the neutron spectrum in the core is presented. The study fills the gap in the numerical reconstruction of early criticality accidents and thus helps to preserve critical nuclear knowledge for future generations.
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