On the mechanism of the interactions of neutrons and gamma radiation with nuclear graphite—Implications to HTGRs

Development of Oxidative Pyrolysis Method for the Rapid Determination of Boron in Graphite Powders by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES)

“…Because of outstanding properties such as low neutron absorption cross-section, good moderating properties, chemical inertness, capacity to withstand very high temperatures, high thermal and electrical conductivity, graphite is largely used as a moderator, reflector, and structural material in nuclear reactors (1,2). Graphite is also the base material for the preparation of mixed carbide fuels (e.g., (U, Pu)C) for the fast breeder reactors (FBR) and also has widespread industrial applications (e.g., as electrodes, crucibles, high-resistance engineering parts in the aerospace technology) (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). For such applications, high purity graphite is essential because the outstanding properties, in particular, the nuclear properties of graphite are strongly influenced by the presence of impurities even at low concentrations.…”