Sodium Reactor Experiment (Sre) Shielding Evaluation for Thermal Neutron Streaming at Reactor Vessel Coolant Pipe Penetrations (open access)

Sodium Reactor Experiment (Sre) Shielding Evaluation for Thermal Neutron Streaming at Reactor Vessel Coolant Pipe Penetrations

The experimental program performed in the SRE auxiliary and main primary galleries was part of a program to determine the adequacy of the shielding configuration for the SRE. The work discussed in this report is concerned with analysis of neutron streaming at coolant pipe penetrations of the reactor vessel, analysis of the shielding required, testing and evaluation of recommended shielding, and measurement and correlation of neutron streaming in labyrinths with theory. The activation analysis method using zinc sheets which was developed for the program of determining thermal neutron streaming in the SRE primary galleries was proven to be versatile, accurate, and reliable. A modified form of the theoretical method of Price, Horton, and Spinney, used to determine neutron scattring through labyrinths, was found to agree favorably with the experimental results obtained from the SRE primary galleries. The theoretical attenuation method used no determine the neutron shield configuration installed in the auxiliary primary gallery was found to give an overestimate of the actual attenuation properties of this shield. The neutron shield configuration installed in the auxiliary primary gallery proved to be adequate in reducing the thermal neutron streaming flux to an acceptable level. It is concluded that both SRE primary galleries …
Date: October 31, 1959
Creator: Anderson, F. D.
System: The UNT Digital Library