Publications

Experiments to Measure the Inversion Point of the Isothermal Reactivity Coefficient in a Water-Moderated Pin-Fueled Critical Assembly at Sandia

Harms, Gary A.; Ames, David A.

A new set of critical experiments exploring the temperature-dependence of the reactivity in a critical assembly is described. In the experiments, the temperature of the critical assembly will be varied to determine the temperature that produces the highest reactivity in the assembly. This temperature is the inversion point of the isothermal reactivity coefficient of the assembly. An analysis of relevant configurations is presented. Existing measurements are described and an analysis of these experiments presented. The overall experimental approach is described as are the modifications to the critical assembly needed to perform the experiments.