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IAEA project aims to develop polymer irradiation model
The International Atomic Energy Agency has launched a new coordinated research project (CRP) aimed at creating a database of polymer-radiation interactions in the next five years with the long-term goal of using the database to enable machine learning–based predictive models.
Radiation-induced modifications are widely applicable across a range of fields including healthcare, agriculture, and environmental applications, and exposure to radiation is a major factor when considering materials used at nuclear power plants.
John T. Mihalczo
Nuclear Technology | Volume 175 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 498-508
Technical Paper | Radiation Measurements and General Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A12320
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Prompt neutron decay at delayed criticality was measured by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for uranium-reflected highly enriched uranium (HEU) and Pu metal spheres (FLATTOP), for an unreflected Pu metal (4.5% 240Pu) sphere (JEZEBEL) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and for an unreflected HEU metal sphere at Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility. The average prompt neutron decay constants from hundreds of Rossi- and randomly pulsed neutron measurements with 252Cf at delayed criticality are as follows: 3.8458 ± 0.0016 × 105 s-1 , 2.2139 ± 0.0022 × 105 s-1 , 6.3126 ± 0.0100 × 105 s-1 , and 1.1061 ± 0.0009 × 106 s-1 , respectively. These values agree with previous measurements by LANL for FLATTOP, JEZEBEL, and GODIVA I as follows: 3.82 ± 0.02 × 105 s-1 for a uranium core; 2.14 ± 0.05 × 105 s-1 and 2.29 × 105 s-1 (uncertainty not reported) for a plutonium core; 6.4 ± 0.1 × 105 s-1 , and 1.1 ± 0.1 × 106 s-1 , respectively, but have smaller uncertainties because of the larger number of measurements. For the FLATTOP and JEZEBEL assemblies, the measurements agree with calculations. Traditionally, the calculated decay constants for the bare uranium metal sphere GODIVA I and the Oak Ridge Uranium Metal Sphere were higher than experimental by [approximately]10%. Other energy-dependent quantities for the bare uranium sphere agree within 1%.