Publications

This document presents the facility-recommended characterization of the neutron, prompt gamma-ray, and delayed gamma-ray radiation fields in the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) for the cadmium-polyethylene (CdPoly) bucket in the central cavity on the 32-inch pedestal at the core centerline. The designation for this environment is ACRR-CdPoly-CC-32-cl. The neutron, prompt gamma-ray, and delayed gamma-ray energy spectra, uncertainties, and covariance matrices are presented as well as radial and axial neutron and gamma-ray fluence profiles within the experiment area of the bucket. Recommended constants are given to facilitate the conversion of various dosimetry readings into radiation metrics desired by experimenters. Representative pulse operations are presented with conversion examples. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Annular Core Research Reactor staff and the Radiation Metrology Laboratory staff for their support of this work. Also thanks to Drew Tonigan for helping field the activation experiments in ACRR, David Samuel for helping to finalize the drawings and get the parts fabricated, and Elliot Pelfrey for preparing the active dosimetry plots.

Abstract not provided.

The Sandia National Laboratories Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) has been experiencing intermittent failures of its pneumatically operated transient rod system. The most frequent failures have been to the dashpot rod where it connects to the upper aluminum connecting rod. Within the three systems, Transient Rod (TR) A has the most frequent failures. In order to conduct the pulse operations, the Transient Rods are pneumatically driven to quickly remove "poison" from the reactor core. During these pulse operations increased forces and vibrations are placed on the TR system. In an effort to fix these problems, Sandia's TA-V Nuclear Reactor and Systems Engineering Department (Engineering Department) has started an extensive Transient Rod Pneumatic System Design Study. The goal of this study is to determine the causes of the elevated failure rates in TR A. This necessitates an increased understanding of the dynamics in the TR systems. This report will cover the approach taken and reasoning behind the choices of instrumentation, calibration, data collection and data analysis used to diagnose these failures. In order to determine the types and specifications for the sensors that will be installed, estimates of the TR system performance needed to be determined. Using known and assumed parameters, mechanical and thermodynamic models were developed, and calculations performed to estimate ranges of displacement, speed, and acceleration experienced by the transient rod system. After some preliminary data collection, the thermodynamic models were refined for better accuracy. After installation of the full suite of sensors, data can be collected and analyzed in order to determine the cause of the increased failures. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all my colleagues in Sandia's TA-V who helped with installation and data collection, especially Jim Klein, Michael Black, and Paul Helmick. Additionally, I would like to thank my professors at New Mexico Tech for their support and input. And finally my family, who has endured my absence throughout my entire degree program.