Criticality Experiments with Mixed Plutonium and Uranium Nitrate Solution at a Plutonium Fraction of 0.5 in Annular Cylindrical Geometry

Abstract

S526 SUMMARYA series of critical experiments was completed with mixed plutonium-uranium solutions having Pu/(Pu + U) ratios of approximately 0.5. These experiments were a part of the Criticality Data Development Program between the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) of Japan. A complete description of, and data from, the experiments are included in this report. The experiments were performed with mixed plutonium-uranium solutions in annular cylindrical geometry. The measurements were made with a water reflector. The central region included a concrete annular cylinder containing s 4 c. Interior to the concrete insert was a stainless steel bottle containing plutonium-uranium solution. The concentration of the solution in the annular region was varied from 116 to 433 g (Pu + U)/liter. The ratio of plutonium to total heavy metal (plutonium plus uranium) was 52% for all experiments.iii CONTENTS

Criticality Experiments with Mixed Plutonium and Uranium Nitrate Solution at a Plutonium Fraction of 0.2 and 1.0 in Annular Cylindrical Geometry

“…Engineering drawings were provided in PNL-5768 (Lloyd 1986) for the cylindrical vessel system and in PNL-6119 (Lloyd 1988) for the annular tank assembly. These drawings contain detailed dimensions used for fabrication.…”