Abstract
A characterisation of cylindrical samples by Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA) at the GELINA facility of JRC Geel (Belgium) is presented. The samples were designed and produced for reactivity worth measurements in the MINERVE reactor of CEA Cadarache (France). NRTA was applied to determine the nuclide composition of UO2, Al2O3 and liquid samples that were doped with silver. The volume number densities of 238U, 107Ag and 109Ag obtained by NRTA are within 2 % fully consistent with the values that are quoted by the manufacturer. In addition, the NRTA data reveal a tungsten contamination which is not reported by the provider. It is shown that such a contamination contributes by up to 5.7 % to the reactivity worth.
Highlights
The MINERVE facility, a zero-power reactor located at the CEA Cadarache (France), operated from 1959 to 2017
The tungsten contamination observed in this work could cause such a difference. This assumption was investigated for the silver samples of the Burn-Up Credit programme (AG9C1, AG9C2 and UNC) by including tungsten in the neutron transport calculations
The reactivity worth due to 109Ag is obtained from the measurements with the AG9C1 and AG9C2 samples by subtracting the reactivity worth of the UO2 matrix obtained from the UNC sample
Summary
The MINERVE facility, a zero-power reactor located at the CEA Cadarache (France), operated from 1959 to 2017 It was designed for reactivity worth measurements by the pile-oscillation technique, that is, by oscillating small samples in the centre of the reactor core. The pellets were manufactured by mixing depleted UO2 powder with silver with different enrichments in 109Ag. The performance of NRTA to determine the amount of uranium was assessed by measurements of a reference sample containing only UO2. A sample consisting of an Al2O3 matrix doped with natural silver was measured (AAG) This sample has the same design and manufacturing characteristics as the AG9C1 and AG9C2 samples. A liquid sample, referred to as MAG, which was measured in the MAESTRO programme, was characterised by NRTA This sample consists of natural silver dissolved in a wellcharacterised 4 % HNO3 solution. The solution was enclosed in a double watertight cladding: one made of a welded Zy-4 alloy and one made of an Al-5754 alloy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
