Thermionics basic principles of electronics

CERN Document Server

Jenkins, J; Ashhurst, W

2013-01-01

Basic Principles of Electronics, Volume I : Thermionics serves as a textbook for students in physics. It focuses on thermionic devices. The book covers topics on electron dynamics, electron emission, and the themionic vacuum diode and triode. Power amplifiers, oscillators, and electronic measuring equipment are studied as well. The text will be of great use to physics and electronics students, and inventors.

Fast radio burst search: cross spectrum vs. auto spectrum method

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lei; Zheng, Weimin; Yan, Zhen; Zhang, Juan

2018-06-01

The search for fast radio bursts (FRBs) is a hot topic in current radio astronomy studies. In this work, we carry out a single pulse search with a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) pulsar observation data set using both auto spectrum and cross spectrum search methods. The cross spectrum method, first proposed in Liu et al., maximizes the signal power by fully utilizing the fringe phase information of the baseline cross spectrum. The auto spectrum search method is based on the popular pulsar software package PRESTO, which extracts single pulses from the auto spectrum of each station. According to our comparison, the cross spectrum method is able to enhance the signal power and therefore extract single pulses from data contaminated by high levels of radio frequency interference (RFI), which makes it possible to carry out a search for FRBs in regular VLBI observations when RFI is present.

High temperature cogeneration with thermionic burners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzpatrick, G.O.; Britt, E.J.; Dick, R.S.

1981-01-01

The thermionic cogeneration combustor was conceived to meet industrial requirements for high-temperature direct heat, typically in the form of gas at temperatures from 800 to 1900 K, while at the same time supplying electricity. The thermionic combustor is entirely self-contained, with heat from the combustion region absorbed by the emitters of thermionic converters to be converted to electric power and the high-temperature reject heat from the converters used to preheat the air used for combustion. Depending on the temperature of the process gas produced, energy savings of around 10% with respect to that used to produce the same amount of electricity and heat without cogeneration are possible with present technology, and savings of up to 20% may be possible with advanced converters. Possible thermionic combustor designs currently under investigation include a configuration in which heat is collected by heat pipes lining the periphery of the combustion region, and a fire-tube converter in which combustion occurs within the cylindrical emitter of each converter. Preliminary component tests of these designs have been encouraging

High temperature cogeneration with thermionic burners

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, G. O.; Britt, E. J.; Dick, R. S.

The thermionic cogeneration combustor was conceived to meet industrial requirements for high-temperature direct heat, typically in the form of gas at temperatures from 800 to 1900 K, while at the same time supplying electricity. The thermionic combustor is entirely self-contained, with heat from the combustion region absorbed by the emitters of thermionic converters to be converted to electric power and the high-temperature reject heat from the converters used to preheat the air used for combustion. Depending on the temperature of the process gas produced, energy savings of around 10% with respect to that used to produce the same amount of electricity and heat without cogeneration are possible with present technology, and savings of up to 20% may be possible with advanced converters. Possible thermionic combustor designs currently under investigation include a configuration in which heat is collected by heat pipes lining the periphery of the combustion region, and a fire-tube converter in which combustion occurs within the cylindrical emitter of each converter. Preliminary component tests of these designs have been encouraging.

Thermionic detector with multiple layered ionization source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson, P. L.

1985-01-01

Method and apparatus for analyzing specific chemical substances in a gaseous environment comprises a thermionic source formed of multiple layers of ceramic material composition, an electrical current instrumentality for heating the thermionic source to operating temperatures in the range of 100 0 C. to 1000 0 C., an instrumentality for exposing the surface of the thermionic source to contact with the specific chemical substances for the purpose of forming gas phase ionization of the substances by a process of electrical charge emission from the surface, a collector electrode disposed adjacent to the thermiomic source, an instrumentality for biasing the thermionic source at an electrical potential which causes the gas phase ions to move toward the collector, and an instrumentality for measuring the ion current arriving at the collector. The thermionic source is constructed of a metallic heater element molded inside a sub-layer of hardened ceramic cement material impregnated with a metallic compound additive which is non-corrosive to the heater element during operation. The sub-layer is further covered by a surface-layer formed of hardened ceramic cement material impregnated with an alkali metal compound in a manner that eliminates corrosive contact of the alkali compounds with the heater element. The sub-layer further protects the heater element from contact with gas environments which may be corrosive. The specific ionization of different chemical substances is varied over a wide range by changing the composition and temperature of the thermionic source, and by changing the composition of the gas environment

Solar electron source and thermionic solar cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parham Yaghoobi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Common solar technologies are either photovoltaic/thermophotovoltaic, or use indirect methods of electricity generation such as boiling water for a steam turbine. Thermionic energy conversion based on the emission of electrons from a hot cathode into vacuum and their collection by an anode is also a promising route. However, thermionic solar conversion is extremely challenging as the sunlight intensity is too low for heating a conventional cathode to thermionic emission temperatures in a practical manner. Therefore, compared to other technologies, little has been done in this area, and the devices have been mainly limited to large experimental apparatus investigated for space power applications. Based on a recently observed “Heat Trap” effect in carbon nanotube arrays, allowing their efficient heating with low-power light, we report the first compact thermionic solar cell. Even using a simple off-the-shelf focusing lens, the device delivered over 1 V across a load. The device also shows intrinsic storage capacity.

Thermionic nuclear reactor with internal heat distribution and multiple duct cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, C.R.; Perry, L.W. Jr.

1975-11-01

A Thermionic Nuclear Reactor is described having multiple ribbon-like coolant ducts passing through the core, intertwined among the thermionic fuel elements to provide independent cooling paths. Heat pipes are disposed in the core between and adjacent to the thermionic fuel elements and the ribbon ducting, for the purpose of more uniformly distributing the heat of fission among the thermionic fuel elements and the ducts.

[Continuum based fast Fourier transform processing of infrared spectrum].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qing-Jie; Lin, Qi-Zhong; Wang, Qin-Jun; Li, Hui; Li, Shuai

2009-12-01

To recognize ground objects with infrared spectrum, high frequency noise removing is one of the most important phases in spectrum feature analysis and extraction. A new method for infrared spectrum preprocessing was given combining spectrum continuum processing and Fast Fourier Transform (CFFT). Continuum was firstly removed from the noise polluted infrared spectrum to standardize hyper-spectra. Then the spectrum was transformed into frequency domain (FD) with fast Fourier transform (FFT), separating noise information from target information After noise eliminating from useful information with a low-pass filter, the filtered FD spectrum was transformed into time domain (TD) with fast Fourier inverse transform. Finally the continuum was recovered to the spectrum, and the filtered infrared spectrum was achieved. Experiment was performed for chlorite spectrum in USGS polluted with two kinds of simulated white noise to validate the filtering ability of CFFT by contrast with cubic function of five point (CFFP) in time domain and traditional FFT in frequency domain. A circle of CFFP has limited filtering effect, so it should work much with more circles and consume more time to achieve better filtering result. As for conventional FFT, Gibbs phenomenon has great effect on preprocessing result at edge bands because of special character of rock or mineral spectra, while works well at middle bands. Mean squared error of CFFT is 0. 000 012 336 with cut-off frequency of 150, while that of FFT and CFFP is 0. 000 061 074 with cut-off frequency of 150 and 0.000 022 963 with 150 working circles respectively. Besides the filtering result of CFFT can be improved by adjusting the filter cut-off frequency, and has little effect on working time. The CFFT method overcomes the Gibbs problem of FFT in spectrum filtering, and can be more convenient, dependable, and effective than traditional TD filter methods.

Thermionic and Photo-excited Electron Emission for Energy Conversion Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick T. McCarthy

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes advances in thermionic and photoemission materials and applications dating back to the work on thermionic emission by Guthrie in 1873 and the photoelectric effect by Hertz in 1887. Thermionic emission has been employed for electron beam generation from Edison’s work with the light bulb to modern day technologies such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The photoelectric effect has been utilized in common devices such as cameras and photocopiers while photovoltaic cells continue to be widely successful and further researched. Limitations in device efficiency and materials have thus far restricted large-scale energy generation sources based on thermionic and photoemission. However, recent advances in the fabrication of nanoscale emitters suggest promising routes for improving both thermionic and photo-enhanced electron emission along with newly developed research concepts, e.g., photonically enhanced thermionic emission. However, the abundance of new emitter materials and reduced dimensions of some nanoscale emitters increases the complexity of electron emission theory and engender new questions related to the dimensionality of the emitter. This work presents derivations of basic two and three-dimensional thermionic and photoemission theory along with comparisons to experimentally acquired data. The resulting theory can be applied to many different material types regardless of composition, bulk and surface structure.

Thermionic and Photo-Excited Electron Emission for Energy-Conversion Processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCarthy, Patrick T. [Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States); Reifenberger, Ronald G. [Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States); Fisher, Timothy S., E-mail: tsfisher@purdue.edu [Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States)

2014-12-09

This article describes advances in thermionic and photo-emission materials and applications dating back to the work on thermionic emission by Guthrie (1873) and the photoelectric effect by Hertz (1893). Thermionic emission has been employed for electron beam generation from Edison’s work with the light bulb to modern day technologies such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The photoelectric effect has been utilized in common devices such as cameras and photocopiers while photovoltaic cells continue to be widely successful and further researched. Limitations in device efficiency and materials have thus far restricted large-scale energy generation sources based on thermionic and photoemission. However, recent advances in the fabrication of nanoscale emitters suggest promising routes for improving both thermionic and photo-enhanced electron emission along with newly developed research concepts, e.g., photonically enhanced thermionic emission. However, the abundance of new emitter materials and reduced dimensions of some nanoscale emitters increases the complexity of electron-emission theory and engender new questions related to the dimensionality of the emitter. This work presents derivations of basic two and three-dimensional thermionic and photo-emission theory along with comparisons to experimentally acquired data. The resulting theory can be applied to many different material types regardless of composition, bulk, and surface structure.

Thermionic cogeneration burner design

Science.gov (United States)

Miskolczy, G.; Goodale, D.; Moffat, A. L.; Morgan, D. T.

Since thermionic converters receive heat at very high temperatures (approximately 1800 K) and reject heat at moderately high temperatures (approximately 800 K), they are useful for cogeneration applications involving high temperature processes. The electric power from thermionic converters is produced as a high amperage, low-voltage direct current. An ideal cogeneration application would be to utilize the reject heat at the collector temperature and the electricity without power conditioning. A cogeneration application in the edible oil industry fulfills both of these requirements since both direct heat and hydrogen gas are required in the hydrogenation of the oils. In this application, the low-voltage direct current would be used in a hydrogen electrolyzer.

Thermionic reactors for space nuclear power

Science.gov (United States)

Homeyer, W. G.; Merrill, M. H.; Holland, J. W.; Fisher, C. R.; Allen, D. T.

1985-01-01

Thermionic reactor designs for a variety of space power applications spanning the range from 5 kWe to 3 MWe are described. In all of these reactors, nuclear heat is converted directly to electrical energy in thermionic fuel elements (TFEs). A circulating reactor coolant carries heat from the core of TFEs directly to a heat rejection radiator system. The recent design of a thermionic reactor to meet the SP-100 requirements is emphasized. Design studies of reactors at other power levels show that the same TFE can be used over a broad range in power, and that design modifications can extend the range to many megawatts. The design of the SP-100 TFE is similar to that of TFEs operated successfully in test reactors, but with design improvements to extend the operating lifetime to seven years.

A new concept of thermionic converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musa, G.

1978-10-01

The parameters of a new type of thermionic converter which has a number of concentric electrodes, is computed. The obtained theoretical efficiency of this new type of converter is nearly the efficiency of the ideal thermionic converter. The obtained results are explained by the reduction of the radiation loss from the emitter due to the electrode configuration. Efficiencies as high as 20% are expected from this type of converter now in construction. (author)

Development of a thermionic-reactor space-power system. Final summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1973-01-01

Initial experimental work led to the award of the first AEC thermionic contract on May 1, 1962, for the development of fission heated thermionic cells with an operating life of 10,000 hours or more. Two types of converters were fabricated: (1) electrically heated, and (2) fission heated where the fuel was either uranium carbide or uranium oxide. Competition between GGA and GE was climaxed on July 1, 1970 by the award to GGA of a contract to develop an in-core thermionic reactor. This report is divided into the following: thermionic research, materials technology, thermionic fuel element development, reactor technology, and systems technology

Effect of discrete RF spectrum on fast wave current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okazaki, Takashi; Yoshioka, Ken; Sugihara, Masayoshi

1987-08-01

Effect of discrete RF spectrum has been studied for the fast wave current drive with the ion cyclotron range of frequency. Driven current and power densities decrease in this spectrum than in the continuous spectrum. However, there is a possibility to have the mechanism which allows electrons outside the resonance region to interact with the fast wave, taking into account the electron trapping by discrete RF spectrum. In the case of neglecting the electron trapping effect, driven current and power densities decrease up to 0.6 - 0.8 of those which are obtained for the continuous spectrum for the FER (Fusion Experimental Reactor). However, their driven current and power densities can be almost doubled in their magnitude for the discrete spectrum by taking into account the trapping effect. (author)

Near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion for renewable energy recycling

Science.gov (United States)

Ghashami, Mohammad; Cho, Sung Kwon; Park, Keunhan

2017-09-01

This article proposes a new energy harvesting concept that greatly enhances thermionic power generation with high efficiency by exploiting the near-field enhancement of thermal radiation. The proposed near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion (NETEC) system is uniquely configured with a low-bandgap semiconductor cathode separated from a thermal emitter with a subwavelength gap distance, such that a significant amount of electrons can be photoexcited by near-field thermal radiation to contribute to the enhancement of thermionic current density. We theoretically demonstrate that the NETEC system can generate electric power at a significantly lower temperature than the standard thermionic generator, and the energy conversion efficiency can exceed 40%. The obtained results reveal that near-field photoexcitation can enhance the thermionic power output by more than 10 times, making this hybrid system attractive for renewable energy recycling.

Thermionic phenomena the collected works of Irving Langmuir

CERN Document Server

Suits, C Guy

1961-01-01

Thermionic Phenomena is the third volume of the series entitled The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir. This volume compiles articles written during the 1920's and early 1930's, the period when the science of thermionics is beginning to be of importance. This text is divided into two parts. The first part discusses vacuum pumps, specifically examining the effect of space charge and residual gases on thermionic currents in high vacuum. This part also explains fundamental phenomena in electron tubes having tungsten cathodes and the use of high-power vacuum tubes. The second part of this text loo

HEAT Sensor: Harsh Environment Adaptable Thermionic Sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Limb, Scott J. [Palo Alto Research Center, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

2016-05-31

This document is the final report for the “HARSH ENVIRONMENT ADAPTABLE THERMIONIC SENSOR” project under NETL’s Crosscutting contract DE-FE0013062. This report addresses sensors that can be made with thermionic thin films along with the required high temperature hermetic packaging process. These sensors can be placed in harsh high temperature environments and potentially be wireless and self-powered.

Thermionic integrated circuit technology for high power space applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yadavalli, S.R.

1984-01-01

Thermionic triode and integrated circuit technology is in its infancy and it is emerging. The Thermionic triode can operate at relatively high voltages (up to 2000V) and at least tens of amperes. These devices, including their use in integrated circuitry, operate at high temperatures (800 0 C) and are very tolerant to nuclear and other radiations. These properties can be very useful in large space power applications such as that represented by the SP-100 system which uses a nuclear reactor. This paper presents an assessment of the application of thermionic integrated circuitry with space nuclear power system technology. A comparison is made with conventional semiconductor circuitry considering a dissipative shunt regulator for SP-100 type nuclear power system rated at 100 kW. The particular advantages of thermionic circuitry are significant reductions in size and mass of heat dissipation and radiation shield subsystems

A50-kW(el) solar energy thermionic power generator for spacecraft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, S.

1978-01-01

The technical limits of thermionic reactors in space craft and the potentials of solar energy thermionic converters are discussed. The technical design of a solar energy thermionic generator for 50 kW(el) as a secondary energy source in unmanned space craft is presented. (GG) [de

Fast neutron spectrum measurement in the JMTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, K.; Mizuho, M.

1980-01-01

Fast neutron spectrum measurement at positions of K-10 (fuel region), J-11 (first beryllium reflector region) and I-12 (second beryllium reflector region) in the JMTRC has been performed with the threshold detectors such as 107 Ag(n,n')sup(107m)Ag, 103 Rh(n,n')sup(103m)Rh, 115 In(n,n')sup(115m)In and 238 U(n,f)F.P. above 0.1 MeV energy region. The activity data have been analyzed by the unfolding code SAND-II using ANISN spectrum for initial spectrum. An effective cross section of 54 Fe(n,p) 54 Mn is calculated with Fabry's cross section data and SAND-II spectrum for K-10, J-11 and I-12. They are 76.7 mb, 69.0 mb and 68.2 mb for K-10, J-11 and I-12 respectively. These values agree with the effective cross sections (calculated by Fabry's cross section data and ANISN spectrum) within +-6%

Validation of fast-ion D-alpha spectrum measurements during EAST neutral-beam heated plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, J., E-mail: juan.huang@ipp.ac.cn; Wu, C. R.; Hou, Y. M.; Chang, J. F.; Ding, S. Y.; Chen, Y. J.; Jin, Z.; Xu, Z.; Gao, W.; Wang, J. F.; Lyu, B.; Zang, Q.; Zhong, G. Q.; Hu, L.; Wan, B. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, 230031 Hefei, Anhui (China); Heidbrink, W. W.; Stagner, L.; Zhu, Y. B. [University of California, Irvine, California 92697 (United States); Hellermann, M. G. von [Diagnostic Team, ITER Organization, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon 13067 St. Paul Lez Durance (France)

2016-11-15

To investigate the fast ion behavior, a fast ion D-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic system has been installed on EAST. Fast ion features can be inferred from the Doppler shifted spectrum of Balmer-alpha light from energetic hydrogenic atoms. This paper will focus on the validation of FIDA measurements performed using MHD-quiescent discharges in 2015 campaign. Two codes have been applied to calculate the D{sub α} spectrum: one is a Monte Carlo code, Fortran 90 version FIDASIM, and the other is an analytical code, Simulation of Spectra (SOS). The predicted SOS fast-ion spectrum agrees well with the measurement; however, the level of fast-ion part from FIDASIM is lower. The discrepancy is possibly due to the difference between FIDASIM and SOS velocity distribution function. The details will be presented in the paper to primarily address comparisons of predicted and observed spectrum shapes/amplitudes.

Mechanism of explosive emission excitation in thermionic energy conversion processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bulyga, A.V.

1983-01-01

A study has been made of the mechanism of explosive electron emission in vacuum thermionic converters induced by thermionic currents in the case of the anomalous Richardson effect. The latter is associated with a spotted emitting surface and temperature fluctuations. In order to account for one of the components of the electrode potential difference, it is proposed that allowance be made for the difference between the polarization signal velocity in a dense metal electron gas and that in the electron-ion gas of the electrode gap. Ways to achieve explosive emission in real thermionic converters are discussed.

Neutron spectrum determination by activation method in fast neutron fields at the RB reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokcic-Kostic, M.; Pesic, M.; Antic, D.

1994-01-01

The fast neutron fields of the RB reactor are presented in this paper. The activation method for spectrum determination is described and explained. The obtained results for intermediate and fast spectrum are given and discussed. (author)

Thermionic system evaluated test (TSET) facility description

Science.gov (United States)

Fairchild, Jerry F.; Koonmen, James P.; Thome, Frank V.

1992-01-01

A consortium of US agencies are involved in the Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET) which is being supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). The project is a ground test of an unfueled Soviet TOPAZ-II in-core thermionic space reactor powered by electrical heat. It is part of the United States' national thermionic space nuclear power program. It will be tested in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the New Mexico Engineering Research Institute complex by the Phillips Laboratoty, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the University of New Mexico. One of TSET's many objectives is to demonstrate that the US can operate and test a complete space nuclear power system, in the electrical heater configuration, at a low cost. Great efforts have been made to help reduce facility costs during the first phase of this project. These costs include structural, mechanical, and electrical modifications to the existing facility as well as the installation of additional emergency systems to mitigate the effects of utility power losses and alkali metal fires.

Beta Radiation Enhanced Thermionic Emission from Diamond Thin Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Croot

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Diamond-based thermionic emission devices could provide a means to produce clean and renewable energy through direct heat-to-electrical energy conversion. Hindering progress of the technology are the thermionic output current and threshold temperature of the emitter cathode. In this report, we study the effects on thermionic emission caused by in situ exposure of the diamond cathode to beta radiation. Nitrogen-doped diamond thin films were grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition on molybdenum substrates. The hydrogen-terminated nanocrystalline diamond was studied using a vacuum diode setup with a 63Ni beta radiation source-embedded anode, which produced a 2.7-fold increase in emission current compared to a 59Ni-embedded control. The emission threshold temperature was also examined to further assess the enhancement of thermionic emission, with 63Ni lowering the threshold temperature by an average of 58 ± 11 °C compared to the 59Ni control. Various mechanisms for the enhancement are discussed, with a satisfactory explanation remaining elusive. Nevertheless, one possibility is discussed involving excitation of preexisting conduction band electrons that may skew their energy distribution toward higher energies.

Neutron spectrum determination by activation method in fast neutron fields at the RB reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokcic-Kostic, M.S.; Pesic, M.P.; Antic, D.P.

1994-01-01

The fast neutron fields of the RB reactor are presented in this paper. The activation method for spectrum determination is described and explained. The obtained results for intermediate and fast spectrum are given and discussed. (authors). 7 refs., 3 tabs

A NEW THERMIONIC RF ELECTRON GUN FOR SYNCHROTRON LIGHT SOURCES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kutsaev, Sergey; Agustsson, R.; Hartzell, J; Murokh, A.; Nassiri, A.; Savin, E.; Smirnov, A.V.; Smirnov, A. Yu; Sun, Y.; Verma, A; Waldschmidt, Geoff; Zholents, A.

2017-06-02

A thermionic RF gun is a compact and efficient source of electrons used in many practical applications. RadiaBeam Systems and the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory collaborate in developing of a reliable and robust thermionic RF gun for synchrotron light sources which would offer substantial improvements over existing thermionic RF guns and allow stable operation with up to 1A of beam peak current at a 100 Hz pulse repetition rate and a 1.5 μs RF pulse length. In this paper, we discuss the electromagnetic and engineering design of the cavity and report the progress towards high power tests of the cathode assembly of the new gun.

Thermodynamics of photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reck, Kasper; Hansen, Ole

2014-01-01

Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) cells in which direct photon energy as well as thermal energy can be harvested have recently been suggested as a new candidate for high efficiency solar cells. Here, we present an analytic thermodynamical model for evaluation of the efficiency of PETE solar cells including an analysis of the entropy production due to thermionic emission of general validity. The model is applied to find the maximum efficiency of a PETE cell for given cathode and anode work functions and temperatures

Prospects for the use of thermionic nuclear power plants for interorbital transfers of space vehicles in near space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, P.V.; Zhabotinskii, E.E.; Nikonov, A.M.

1993-01-01

In a previous study the authors considered the use of thermionic nuclear power plants with a thermal reactor for interorbital transfers of space vehicles by electrojet propulsion systems (EJPSs), opening up broad prospects for putting payloads into a high orbit with relatively inexpensive means for a launch into a reference orbit, e.g., the Proton launch vehicle. This is of major importance for the commercial use of space technology, in particular, for erecting technological platforms for the production of various materials. In the work reported here the authors continue the study of interorbital transfers and explore the potentialities of thermionic NPPs with a thermal reactor and with a fast reactor. In boosted operation the electrical power of the latter may reach several hundred kilowatts. What type of NPP is desirable for testing an electrojet propulsion system in interorbital transfers from a reference orbit to a high orbit, providing that the time is limited, depends on the class of the launch vehicle characterized by the mass M o that the vehicle can carry into the reference orbit, where radiation safety conditions allow the NPP to be started up. Results of studies are presented that give an idea of the rational choice of type of thermionic NPP for the organization in interorbital transfers

The mechanism of explosive emission excitation in thermionic energy conversion processes

Science.gov (United States)

Bulyga, A. V.

A study has been made of the mechanism of explosive electron emission in vacuum thermionic converters induced by thermionic currents in the case of the anomalous Richardson effect. The latter is associated with a spotted emitting surface and temperature fluctuations. In order to account for one of the components of the electrode potential difference, it is proposed that allowance be made for the difference between the polarization signal velocity in a dense metal electron gas and that in the electron-ion gas of the electrode gap. Ways to achieve explosive emission in real thermionic converters are discussed.

Thermionic conversion reactor technology assessment. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-02-01

The in-core thermionic space nuclear power supply may be the only identified reactor-power concept that can meet the SP-100 size functional requirements with demonstrated state-of-the-art reactor system and space-qualified power system component temperatures. The SP-100 configuration limits provide a net 40 m 2 of primary non-deployed radiator area. If a reasonable 7-year degradation allowance of 15% to 20% is provided then the beginning of life (BOL) net power output requirement is about 120 kWe. Consequently, the SP-100 power system must produce a P/A of 2.7 kWe/m 2 . This non-deployed radiator area power density performance can only be reasonably achieved by the thermionic in-core convertr system, the potassium Rankine turbine system and the Stirling engine system. The purpose of this study is to examine past and current tests and data, and to assess the potential for successful development of suitable fueled-thermionic converters that will meet SP-100 and growth requirements. The basis for the assessment will be provided and the recommended key developments plan set forth

Materials for thermionic energy converters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolff, L.R.; Hermans, J.M.; Adriaansen, J.K.M.; Gubbels, G.H.M.; Vincenzini, P.

1987-01-01

This paper deals with the design and construction of a combustion heated Thermionic Energy Converter (TEC). Main components of this TEC are: 1. A ''Hot Shell'' protecting the TEC from the combustion environment 2. A ''Ceramic Seal'' electrically insulating the emitter from the collector 3. A

Thermionic refrigeration at CNT-CNT junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Li, C.; Pipe, K. P.

2016-10-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is used to study carrier energy relaxation following thermionic emission at the junction of two van der Waals bonded single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). An energy-dependent transmission probability gives rise to energy filtering at the junction, which is predicted to increase the average electron transport energy by as much as 0.115 eV, leading to an effective Seebeck coefficient of 386 μV/K. MC results predict a long energy relaxation length (˜8 μm) for hot electrons crossing the junction into the barrier SWCNT. For SWCNTs of optimal length, an analytical transport model is used to show that thermionic cooling can outweigh parasitic heat conduction due to high SWCNT thermal conductivity, leading to a significant cooling capacity (2.4 × 106 W/cm2).

Thermionics. A bibliography with abstracts. Search period covered: 1970--Apr 1975. [190 references

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grooms, D.W.

1975-04-01

Research on thermionic power generation, power plant design, converter design, and basic research on thermionic materials are cited in the bibliography. Spacecraft applications are included. (Contains 190 abstracts).

Hybrid thermionic-photovoltaic converter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Datas, A. [Instituto de Energía Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2016-04-04

A conceptual device for the direct conversion of heat into electricity is presented. This concept hybridizes thermionic (TI) and thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion in a single thermionic-photovoltaic (TIPV) solid-state device. This device transforms into electricity both the electron and photon fluxes emitted by an incandescent surface. This letter presents an idealized analysis of this device in order to determine its theoretical potential. According to this analysis, the key advantage of this converter, with respect to either TPV or TI, is the higher power density in an extended temperature range. For low temperatures, TIPV performs like TPV due to the negligible electron flux. On the contrary, for high temperatures, TIPV performs like TI due to the great enhancement of the electron flux, which overshadows the photon flux contribution. At the intermediate temperatures, ∼1650 K in the case of this particular study, I show that the power density potential of TIPV converter is twice as great as that of TPV and TI. The greatest impact concerns applications in which the temperature varies in a relatively wide range, for which averaged power density enhancement above 500% is attainable.

Photocathode operation of a thermionic RF gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorin, S.; Cutic, N.; Lindau, F.; Werin, S.; Curbis, F.

2009-01-01

The thermionic RF gun using a BaO cathode at the MAX-lab linac injector has been successfully commissioned for additional operation as a photocathode gun. By retaining the BaO cathode, lowering the temperature below thermal emission and illuminating it with a UV (263 nm) 9 ps laser pulse a reduced emittance and enhanced emission control has been achieved. Measurements show a normalised emittance of 5.5 mm mrad at 200 pC charge and a maximum quantum efficiency of 1.1x10 -4 . The gun is now routinely switched between storage ring injections in thermionic mode and providing a beam for the MAX-lab test FEL in photocathode mode.

Analysis of the fast-neutron spectrum inside the experimental cavity of the NRU Mk4 FN rod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leung, T.C.

1995-01-01

The fast-neutron (FN) rods in the NRU reactor provide a facility to study the effects of irradiation on CANDU reactor materials. The Mark 4 (Mk4) FN rods use natural uranium and supply fast-neutrons for experiments on irradiation creep and growth, and corrosion, for pressure- and calandria-tube materials. The neutron fluxes above 1 MeV are up to 2.7x10 17 n.m -2 .s -1 . This paper describes a calculation of the fast-neutron spectrum inside the NRU Mk4 FN rod cavity. The calculation was performed using the WIMS-AECL code, which is a multi-group transport code with two dimensional capabilities using the collision-probability method. Results for the fast-neutron spectrum above 1 MeV are presented in nine groups. The analysis confirms that the spectrum in the fast-neutron irradiation facility in NRU is representative of the actual irradiation spectrum for fast-neutron damage in a CANDU reactor. The effects of changes in specimen holder size, temperature, coolant density and fuel burnup on the fast neutron spectrum are also presented. (author). 9 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs

Isotopic Thermionic Generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemot, M.; Devin, B.; Durand, J.P.

1967-01-01

This report describes the general design of a thermionic direct conversion space generator. The power source used is a radioisotope. Two radioisotopes are considered: Pu 238 and Cm 244. The system is made up of a heat pipe concentrating the thermal flux from the isotope to the emitter, and of a second heat pipe evacuating the waste heat from the collector to the outer wall used as radiating panel. Calculations are given in the particular case of a 100 electrical watts output power. (authors) [fr

Sustainable thorium nuclear fuel cycles: A comparison of intermediate and fast neutron spectrum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, N.R.; Powers, J.J.; Feng, B.; Heidet, F.; Stauff, N.E.; Zhang, G.; Todosow, M.; Worrall, A.; Gehin, J.C.; Kim, T.K.; Taiwo, T.A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Comparison of intermediate and fast spectrum thorium-fueled reactors. • Variety of reactor technology options enables self-sustaining thorium fuel cycles. • Fuel cycle analyses indicate similar performance for fast and intermediate systems. • Reproduction factor plays a significant role in breeding and burn-up performance. - Abstract: This paper presents analyses of possible reactor representations of a nuclear fuel cycle with continuous recycling of thorium and produced uranium (mostly U-233) with thorium-only feed. The analysis was performed in the context of a U.S. Department of Energy effort to develop a compendium of informative nuclear fuel cycle performance data. The objective of this paper is to determine whether intermediate spectrum systems, having a majority of fission events occurring with incident neutron energies between 1 eV and 10 5 eV, perform as well as fast spectrum systems in this fuel cycle. The intermediate spectrum options analyzed include tight lattice heavy or light water-cooled reactors, continuously refueled molten salt reactors, and a sodium-cooled reactor with hydride fuel. All options were modeled in reactor physics codes to calculate their lattice physics, spectrum characteristics, and fuel compositions over time. Based on these results, detailed metrics were calculated to compare the fuel cycle performance. These metrics include waste management and resource utilization, and are binned to accommodate uncertainties. The performance of the intermediate systems for this self-sustaining thorium fuel cycle was similar to a representative fast spectrum system. However, the number of fission neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed limits performance in intermediate spectrum systems

Sustainable thorium nuclear fuel cycles: A comparison of intermediate and fast neutron spectrum systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, N.R., E-mail: nbrown@bnl.gov [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (United States); Powers, J.J. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Feng, B.; Heidet, F.; Stauff, N.E.; Zhang, G. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (United States); Todosow, M. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (United States); Worrall, A.; Gehin, J.C. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Kim, T.K.; Taiwo, T.A. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-08-15

Highlights: • Comparison of intermediate and fast spectrum thorium-fueled reactors. • Variety of reactor technology options enables self-sustaining thorium fuel cycles. • Fuel cycle analyses indicate similar performance for fast and intermediate systems. • Reproduction factor plays a significant role in breeding and burn-up performance. - Abstract: This paper presents analyses of possible reactor representations of a nuclear fuel cycle with continuous recycling of thorium and produced uranium (mostly U-233) with thorium-only feed. The analysis was performed in the context of a U.S. Department of Energy effort to develop a compendium of informative nuclear fuel cycle performance data. The objective of this paper is to determine whether intermediate spectrum systems, having a majority of fission events occurring with incident neutron energies between 1 eV and 10{sup 5} eV, perform as well as fast spectrum systems in this fuel cycle. The intermediate spectrum options analyzed include tight lattice heavy or light water-cooled reactors, continuously refueled molten salt reactors, and a sodium-cooled reactor with hydride fuel. All options were modeled in reactor physics codes to calculate their lattice physics, spectrum characteristics, and fuel compositions over time. Based on these results, detailed metrics were calculated to compare the fuel cycle performance. These metrics include waste management and resource utilization, and are binned to accommodate uncertainties. The performance of the intermediate systems for this self-sustaining thorium fuel cycle was similar to a representative fast spectrum system. However, the number of fission neutrons emitted per neutron absorbed limits performance in intermediate spectrum systems.

Thermionic integrated circuits: electronics for hostile environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lynn, D.K.; McCormick, J.B.; MacRoberts, M.D.J.; Wilde, D.K.; Dooley, G.R.; Brown, D.R.

1985-01-01

Thermionic integrated circuits combine vacuum tube technology with integrated circuit techniques to form integrated vacuum triode circuits. These circuits are capable of extended operation in both high-temperature and high-radiation environments

FAST MUSIC SPECTRUM PEAK SEARCH VIA METROPOLIS-HASTINGS SAMPLER

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Guo Qinghua; Liao Guisheng

2005-01-01

A fast MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) spectrum peak search algorithm is devised, which regards the power of the MUSIC spectrum function as target distribution up to a constant of proportionality, and uses Metropolis-Hastings (MH) sampler, one of the most popular Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques, to sample from it. The proposed method reduces greatly the tremendous computation and storage costs in conventional MUSIC techniques i.e., about two and four orders of magnitude in computation and storage costs under the conditions of the experiment in the paper respectively.

NASA thermionic-conversion program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, J.F.

1977-01-01

NASA's program for applied research and technology (ART) in thermionic energy conversion (TEC) has made worthwhile contributions in a relatively short time: Many of these accomplishments are incremental, yet important. And their integration has yielded gains in performance as well as in the knowledge necessary to point productive directions for future work. Both promise and problems derive from the degrees of freedom allowed by the current programmatic emphasis on out-of-core thermionics. Materials and designs previously prohibited by in-core nucleonics and geometries now offer new potentialities. But as a result a major TEC-ART responsibility is the efficient reduction of the glitter of diverse possibilities to the hard glint of reality. As always high-temperature material effects are crucial to the level and duration of TEC performance: New electrodes must increase and maintain power output regardless of emitter-vapor deposition on collectors. They must also serve compatibly with hot-shell alloys. And while space TEC must face high-temperature vaporization problems externally as well as internally, terrestrial TEC must tolerate hot corrosive atmospheres outside and near-vacuum inside. Furthermore, some modes for decreasing interelectrode losses appear to require rather demanding converter geometries to produce practical power densities. In these areas and others significant progress is being made in the NASA TEC-ART Program

CID thermionic gun system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koontz, R.F.

1981-10-01

A new high-current thermionic gun has been installed on the CID injector at SLAC and brought into operation. The gun and pulser system generate three nanosecond pulses of about six amps peak which, when bunched in the subharmonic buncher system, produce in excess of 10 11 electrons in a single S-band accelerated bunch. Preliminary operation of the gun is described, and details of the avalanche cathode drive pulser are presented

CID thermionic gun system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koontz, R.F.

1982-01-01

A new high-current thermionic gun has been installed on the CID injector at SLAC and brought into operation. The gun and pulser system generate three nanosecond pulses of about six amps peak which, when bunched in the subharmonic buncher system, produce in excess of 10 11 electrons in a single S-band accelerated bunch. Preliminary operation of the gun is described, and details of the avalanche cathode drive pulser are presented

Corrections on energy spectrum and scattering for fast neutron radiography at NECTAR facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shuquan; Thomas, Boucherl; Li Hang; Zou Yubin; Lu Yuanrong; Guo Zhiyu

2013-01-01

Distortions caused by the neutron spectrum and scattered neutrons are major problems in fast neutron radiography and should be considered for improving the image quality. This paper puts emphasis on the removal of these image distortions and deviations for fast neutron radiography performed at the NECTAR facility of the research reactor FRM-Ⅱ in Technische Universitaet Mounchen (TUM), Germany. The NECTAR energy spectrum is analyzed and established to modify the influence caused by the neutron spectrum, and the Point Scattered Function (PScF) simulated by the Monte-Carlo program MCNPX is used to evaluate scattering effects from the object and improve image quality. Good analysis results prove the sound effects of the above two corrections. (authors)

Corrections on energy spectrum and scatterings for fast neutron radiography at NECTAR facility

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shu-Quan; Bücherl, Thomas; Li, Hang; Zou, Yu-Bin; Lu, Yuan-Rong; Guo, Zhi-Yu

2013-11-01

Distortions caused by the neutron spectrum and scattered neutrons are major problems in fast neutron radiography and should be considered for improving the image quality. This paper puts emphasis on the removal of these image distortions and deviations for fast neutron radiography performed at the NECTAR facility of the research reactor FRM- II in Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany. The NECTAR energy spectrum is analyzed and established to modify the influence caused by the neutron spectrum, and the Point Scattered Function (PScF) simulated by the Monte-Carlo program MCNPX is used to evaluate scattering effects from the object and improve image quality. Good analysis results prove the sound effects of the above two corrections.

Advanced thermionic reactor systems design code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, B.R.; Pawlowski, R.A.; Greek, K.J.; Klein, A.C.

1991-01-01

An overall systems design code is under development to model an advanced in-core thermionic nuclear reactor system for space applications at power levels of 10 to 50 kWe. The design code is written in an object-oriented programming environment that allows the use of a series of design modules, each of which is responsible for the determination of specific system parameters. The code modules include a neutronics and core criticality module, a core thermal hydraulics module, a thermionic fuel element performance module, a radiation shielding module, a module for waste heat transfer and rejection, and modules for power conditioning and control. The neutronics and core criticality module determines critical core size, core lifetime, and shutdown margins using the criticality calculation capability of the Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon Transport Code System (MCNP). The remaining modules utilize results of the MCNP analysis along with FORTRAN programming to predict the overall system performance

New features of the MAX IV thermionic pre-injector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersson, J., E-mail: joel.andersson@maxiv.lu.se; Olsson, D., E-mail: david.olsson@maxiv.lu.se; Curbis, F.; Malmgren, L.; Werin, S.

2017-05-21

The MAX IV facility in Lund, Sweden consists of two storage rings for production of synchrotron radiation. The smaller 1.5 GeV ring is presently under construction, while the larger 3 GeV ring is being commissioned. Both rings will be operating with top-up injections from a full-energy injector. During injection, the electron beam is first delivered to the main injector from a thermionic pre-injector which consists of a thermionic RF gun, a chopper system, and an energy filter. In order to reduce losses of high-energy electrons along the injector and in the rings, the electron beam provided by the thermionic pre-injector should have the correct time structure and energy distribution. In this paper, the design of the MAX IV thermionic pre-injector with all its sub components is presented. The electron beam delivered by the pre-injector and its dependence on parameters such as optics, cathode temperature, and RF power are studied. Measurements are here compared with simulation results obtained by particle tracking and electromagnetic codes. The chopper system is described in detail, and different driving schemes that optimize the injection efficiency for the two storage rings are investigated. During operation, it was discovered that the structure of the beam delivered by the gun is affected by mode beating between the accelerating and a low-order mode. This mode beating is also studied in detail. Finally, initial measurements of the electron beam delivered to the 3 GeV ring during commissioning are presented.

Thermionic Power Cell To Harness Heat Energies for Geothermal Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Manohara, Harish; Mojarradi, Mohammad; Greer, Harold F.

2011-01-01

A unit thermionic power cell (TPC) concept has been developed that converts natural heat found in high-temperature environments (460 to 700 C) into electrical power for in situ instruments and electronics. Thermionic emission of electrons occurs when an emitter filament is heated to gwhite hot h temperatures (>1,000 C) allowing electrons to overcome the potential barrier and emit into the vacuum. These electrons are then collected by an anode, and transported to the external circuit for energy storage.

Dexter - A one-dimensional code for calculating thermionic performance of long converters.

Science.gov (United States)

Sawyer, C. D.

1971-01-01

This paper describes a versatile code for computing the coupled thermionic electric-thermal performance of long thermionic converters in which the temperature and voltage variations cannot be neglected. The code is capable of accounting for a variety of external electrical connection schemes, coolant flow paths and converter failures by partial shorting. Example problem solutions are given.

Generation of multi-branch beam with thermionic gun for the Japan linear collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, T.; Akemoto, M.; Matsumonto, H.; Urakawa, J.; Yoshioka, M.; Akiyama, H.

1992-01-01

We report on the development of a thermionic gun that is capable of producing multi-bunch beam to be used at the KEK Accelerator Test Facility for the Japan Linear Collider project. Two types of grid pulse generators have been developed. One is an avalanche pulse generator. A Y-646E cathode was successfully operated to generate double-bunch beam with a pulse width shorter than 700 ps, bunch spacing 1.4 ns, and a peak current 4.3 A. The other grid pulse generator is a fast ECL circuit with an RF power amplifier. Generation of 20-pulse trains with 2.1 ns time spacing has been demonstrated. (Author) 4 refs., 6 figs

DEXTER: A one-dimensional code for calculating thermionic performance of long converters

Science.gov (United States)

Sawyer, C. D.

1971-01-01

A versatile code is described for computing the coupled thermionic electric-thermal performance of long thermionic converters in which the temperature and voltage variations cannot be neglected. The code is capable of accounting for a variety of external electrical connection schemes, coolant flow paths and converter failures by partial shorting. Example problem solutions are included along with a user's manual.

Subcritical molten salt reactor with fast/intermediate spectrum for minor actinides transmutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Degtyarev, Alexey M.; Feinberg, Olga S.; Kolyaskin, Oleg E.; Myasnikov, Andrey A.; Karmanov, Fedor I.; Kuznetsov, Andrey Yu.; Ponomarev, Leonid I.; Seregin, Mikhail B.; Sidorkin, Stanislav F.

2011-01-01

The subcritical molten-salt reactor for transmutation of Am and Cm with the fast-intermediate neutron spectrum is suggested. It is shown that ∼10 such reactor-burners is enough to support the future nuclear power based on the fast reactors as well as for the transmutation of Am and Cm accumulated in the spent fuel storages. (author)

A fast computation method for MUSIC spectrum function based on circular arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Zhengdong; Wei, Ping

2015-02-01

The large computation amount of multiple signal classification (MUSIC) spectrum function seriously affects the timeliness of direction finding system using MUSIC algorithm, especially in the two-dimensional directions of arrival (DOA) estimation of azimuth and elevation with a large antenna array. This paper proposes a fast computation method for MUSIC spectrum. It is suitable for any circular array. First, the circular array is transformed into a virtual uniform circular array, in the process of calculating MUSIC spectrum, for the cyclic characteristics of steering vector, the inner product in the calculation of spatial spectrum is realised by cyclic convolution. The computational amount of MUSIC spectrum is obviously less than that of the conventional method. It is a very practical way for MUSIC spectrum computation in circular arrays.

Calculation of the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site using the WIMSD4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattab, K.

2005-03-01

The Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) in Syria has five inner irradiation sites in the annulus Beryllium reflectors to analyze the unknown samples using the Neutron Activation Analysis technique and to produce medium and short half life isotopes. The fast neutron flux spectrum has a special importance in the MNSR reactor physics where this spectrum is required to measure the fast neutron flux in the MNSR inner irradiation sites. Hence, calculation of the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site is conducted in this work using the WIMSD4 code. The energy range is divided in the WIMSD4 to 69 energy groups. The first six energy groups represent the fast neutron ranging from 0.5 to 10 MeV. To calculate the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site using the WIMSD4 code, the MNSR is modeled as a super unit cell. This cell consists of three regions which are: the homogenized core, annulus Beryllium, and water. The fast neutron spectrum is calculated also using the U 235 fission neutron spectrum approximation. The U 235 fission neutron spectrum agrees very good with the WIMSD4 results when neutron energy exceeds 1 MeV, but it fails when the neutron energy ranges from 0.5 to 1 MeV. The WIMSD4 code is used as well to calculate the microscopic fission cross sections for the U 238 using six energy groups where a unit cell of U 238 is used since the U 238 is usually used to measure the fast neutron flux in the reactor. The macroscopic fission cross sections for the U 238 are calculated first then the microscopic fission cross sections are calculated knowing the U 238 atomic density. (Author)

Calculation of the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site using the WIMSD4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattab, K.

2006-01-01

The Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) in Syria has five inner irradiation sites in the annulus Beryllium reflectors to analyze the unknown samples using the Neutron Activation Analysis technique and to produce medium and short half life isotopes. The fast neutron flux spectrum has a special importance in the MNSR reactor physics where this spectrum is required to measure the fast neutron flux in the MNSR inner irradiation sites. Hence, calculation of the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site is conducted in this work using the WIMSD4 code. The energy range is divided in the WIMSD4 to 69 energy groups. The first six energy groups represent the fast neutron ranging from 0.5 to 10 MeV. To calculate the fast neutron flux spectrum in the MNSR inner irradiation site using the WIMSD4 code, the MNSR is modeled as a super unit cell. This cell consists of three regions which are: the homogenized core, annulus Beryllium, and water. The fast neutron spectrum is calculated also using the U 235 fission neutron spectrum approximation. The U 235 fission neutron spectrum agrees very good with the WIMSD4 results when neutron energy exceeds 1 MeV, but it fails when the neutron energy ranges from 0.5 to 1 MeV. The WIMSD4 code is used as well to calculate the microscopic fission cross sections for the U 238 using six energy groups where a unit cell of U 238 is used since the U 238 is usually used to measure the fast neutron flux in the reactor. The macroscopic fission cross sections for the U 238 are calculated first then the microscopic fission cross sections are calculated knowing the U 238 atomic density. (Author)

Structures in the K-shell delta electron spectrum near threshold for ionization by fast charged particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amundsen, P.A.; Aashamar, K.

Results of calculations of the delta electron spectrum for K-shell ionization of atoms by fast charged particles for target charges in the range 6 2 <=40 are presented. Appreciable structure is found in the spectrum near the ionization threshold, in particular for fast projectiles and heavy target elements. The structure can be quite sensitive to the details of the effective atomic potentials. (Auth.)

The relationship between shock response spectrum and fast Fourier transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zola, Maurizio

2001-01-01

In this paper the basic relationship between response spectrum and fast Fourier transform is laid down. Since a long time the response spectrum has been used by structural engineers in the seismic domain and nowadays it is going to be used to define transient motions. This way to define the excitation is more general and more real than the use of classical shape pulses for the reproduction of real environment. Nevertheless the response spectrum of a real excitation represents a loss of some information with respect to the Fourier transform. A useful discussion could arise from these observations. Appendix A gives the relationship between the mathematic Fourier transform and the digital Fourier transform given by computers, while Appendix B gives some examples of response spectra and Fourier transforms of simple functions. (author)

On thermionic emission from plasma-facing components in tokamak-relevant conditions.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komm, Michael; Ratynskaia, S.; Tolias, P.; Cavalier, Jordan; Dejarnac, Renaud; Gunn, J. P.; Podolník, Aleš

2017-01-01

Roč. 59, č. 9 (2017), č. článku 094002. ISSN 0741-3335 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-14228S; GA MŠk(CZ) 8D15001 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 633053 - EUROfusion Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : thermionic * PIC * tungsten * tokamak * thermionic emission * plasma facing components * particle-in-cell Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) Impact factor: 2.392, year: 2016 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6587/aa78c4/pdf

Final Report on Two-Stage Fast Spectrum Fuel Cycle Options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Won Sik; Lin, C. S.; Hader, J. S.; Park, T. K.; Deng, P.; Yang, G.; Jung, Y. S.; Kim, T. K.; Stauff, N. E.

2016-01-01

This report presents the performance characteristics of two ''two-stage'' fast spectrum fuel cycle options proposed to enhance uranium resource utilization and to reduce nuclear waste generation. One is a two-stage fast spectrum fuel cycle option of continuous recycle of plutonium (Pu) in a fast reactor (FR) and subsequent burning of minor actinides (MAs) in an accelerator-driven system (ADS). The first stage is a sodium-cooled FR fuel cycle starting with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel; at the equilibrium cycle, the FR is operated using the recovered Pu and natural uranium without supporting LEU. Pu and uranium (U) are co-extracted from the discharged fuel and recycled in the first stage, and the recovered MAs are sent to the second stage. The second stage is a sodium-cooled ADS in which MAs are burned in an inert matrix fuel form. The discharged fuel of ADS is reprocessed, and all the recovered heavy metals (HMs) are recycled into the ADS. The other is a two-stage FR/ADS fuel cycle option with MA targets loaded in the FR. The recovered MAs are not directly sent to ADS, but partially incinerated in the FR in order to reduce the amount of MAs to be sent to the ADS. This is a heterogeneous recycling option of transuranic (TRU) elements

Final Report on Two-Stage Fast Spectrum Fuel Cycle Options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Won Sik [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Lin, C. S. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Hader, J. S. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Park, T. K. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Deng, P. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Yang, G. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Jung, Y. S. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Kim, T. K. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Stauff, N. E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-01-30

This report presents the performance characteristics of two “two-stage” fast spectrum fuel cycle options proposed to enhance uranium resource utilization and to reduce nuclear waste generation. One is a two-stage fast spectrum fuel cycle option of continuous recycle of plutonium (Pu) in a fast reactor (FR) and subsequent burning of minor actinides (MAs) in an accelerator-driven system (ADS). The first stage is a sodium-cooled FR fuel cycle starting with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel; at the equilibrium cycle, the FR is operated using the recovered Pu and natural uranium without supporting LEU. Pu and uranium (U) are co-extracted from the discharged fuel and recycled in the first stage, and the recovered MAs are sent to the second stage. The second stage is a sodium-cooled ADS in which MAs are burned in an inert matrix fuel form. The discharged fuel of ADS is reprocessed, and all the recovered heavy metals (HMs) are recycled into the ADS. The other is a two-stage FR/ADS fuel cycle option with MA targets loaded in the FR. The recovered MAs are not directly sent to ADS, but partially incinerated in the FR in order to reduce the amount of MAs to be sent to the ADS. This is a heterogeneous recycling option of transuranic (TRU) elements

Characterization of a fast to thermal neutron spectrum converter on PROSPERO reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacquet, X.; Authier, N.; Casoli, P.; Combacon, S. [CEA, Valduc Center, 21120 Is sur Tille (France); Calzavarra, Y. [ILL, Institut Laue Langevin, 38000 Grenoble (France)

2009-07-01

The PROSPERO reactor is located at CEA Valduc Center in France. The reactor is composed of an internal core made of High Enriched Uranium metal alloy surrounded by a reflector of depleted uranium. The reactor is used as a fast neutron spectrum source and is operated in delayed critical state with a continuous and steady power for several hours, which can vary from 3 mW to 3 kW, which is the nominal power. The flux at nominal power varies from 5.10{sup +10} n.cm{sup -2}/s at the reflector surface to 10{sup +7} n.cm{sup -2}/s at 5 meters from reactor axis. It has been decided to build a neutron energy converter allowing the production of a neutron thermal spectrum. As the core produces fast neutrons spectrum, we built a hollow cubic box of 50 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm with 10-cm-thick polyethylene bricks and placed one meter away from central reactor axis to moderate as much as possible neutrons to lower energies (E<0.6 eV). Analysis of the moderated flux inside the converter was performed using different activation foils such as indium or gold. We have developed a model of the experiment in the Monte Carlo neutron transport code TRIPOLI-4. A non-analogous transport calculation scheme was necessary to reproduce properly the experimental activities. The results of the calculated activations are within 4% of the experimental measurements given with 10% uncertainty (2 sigma). We show that the converter realizes thermalization of 80 % of the PROSPERO reactor fast neutrons below the cadmium threshold of 0.6 eV. Epithermal neutrons represent 15% of the spectrum and only 5% are in the fast neutron range above 1 MeV. The total flux at the center of the converter is 1.4 10{sup +9} n.cm{sup -2}/s at 3000 W

Measured and Predicted Variations in Fast Neutron Spectrum when Penetrating Laminated Fe-D2O

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aalto, E.; Sandlin, R.; Fraeki, R.

1965-09-01

Variations of the fast neutron spectrum in thin regions of alternating Fe and D O have been studied using threshold detectors (ln(n, n' ), S(n, p), Al(n, α)). The results have been compared to those calculated by two shielding codes (NRN and RASH D) of multigroup removal-diffusion type. The absolute fast spectrum calculated in our rather complicated configurations was found to agree with measurements within the same accuracy (a factor of two) as did the thermal flux. The calculated spectrum is slightly harder than the measured one, but the detailed variations (covering the range 1:5) in the form of the spectrum when penetrating Fe agree with observations to within 15-20 %. In and Al activities were found to be proportional to the integrated flux over 1 MeV throughout the whole configuration, while S showed the least proportionality

Thermionic energy conversion heat - electric power; Termojonisk energiomvandling vaerme-elektrisk energi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holmlid, L; Svensson, R [Gothenburg Univ. and Chalmers Univ. of Technology (Sweden)

1993-09-15

Research and development related to Thermionic Energy Converters (TEC) in Holland and Sweden is directed towards terrestrial applications, while the development work in Russia and the US primarily is directed towards thermionic nuclear reactor for use in space. We have during the project continued our work on the utilization of the so called Rydberg matter in converters. Our patented construction has very good (low) values of the barrier index (figure of merit for the converter), probably the lowest ones ever measured. International patents have been applied for as well. We can summarize the achievements of the project such that solutions to practically all the problems related to the inner function of thermionic converters have been found. During this year a large number of studies have been carried out concerning the properties of the Rydberg matter in the TEC, and related to the highly excited states of Cs which exist in the TEC, partially in cooperation with an American research company. An international conference within the TEC field has been arranged in Gothenburg. Two Ph.D. theses are also under completion within the project

Thermionic combustor application to combined gas and steam turbine power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Miskolczy, G.; Wang, C. C.; Lieb, D. P.; Margulies, A. E.; Fusegni, L. J.; Lovell, B. J.

A design for the insertion of thermionic converters into the wall of a conventional combustor to produce electricity in a topping cycle is described, and a study for applications in gas and steam generators of 70 and 30 MW is evaluated for engineering and economic feasibility. Waste heat from the thermionic elements is used to preheat the combustor air; the heat absorbed by the elements plus further quenching of the exhaust gases with ammonia is projected to reduce NO(x) emissions to acceptable levels. Schematics, flow diagrams, and components of a computer model for cost projections are provided. It was found that temperatures around the emitters must be maintained above 1,600 K, with maximum efficiency and allowable temperature at 1,800 K, while collectors generate maximally at 950 K, with a corresponding work function of 1.5 eV. Cost sensitive studies indicate an installed price of $475/kW for the topping cycle, with improvements in thermionic converter characteristics bringing the cost to $375/kW at a busbar figure of 500 mills/kWh.

Thermionic combustor application to combined gas and steam turbine power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miskolczy, G.; Wang, C.C.; Lieb, D.P.

1981-01-01

A design for the insertion of thermionic converters into the wall of a conventional combustor to produce electricity in a topping cycle is described, and a study for applications in gas and steam generators of 70 and 30 MW is evaluated for engineering and economic feasibility. Waste heat from the thermionic elements is used to preheat the combustor air, the heat absorbed by the elements plus further quenching of the exhaust gases with ammonia is projected to reduce NO(x) emissions to acceptable levels. Schematics, flow diagrams, and components of a computer model for cost projections are provided. It was found that temperatures around the emitters must be maintained above 1,600 K, with maximum efficiency and allowable temperature at 1,800 K, while collectors generate maximally at 950 K, with a corresponding work function of 1.5 eV. Cost sensitive studies indicate an installed price of $475/kW for the topping cycle, with improvements in thermionic converter characteristics bringing the cost to $375/kW at a busbar figure of 500 mills/kWh

COSMIC EMULATION: FAST PREDICTIONS FOR THE GALAXY POWER SPECTRUM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwan, Juliana; Heitmann, Katrin; Habib, Salman; Frontiere, Nicholas; Pope, Adrian [High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Padmanabhan, Nikhil [Department of Physics, Yale University, 260 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT 06520 (United States); Lawrence, Earl [Statistical Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Finkel, Hal [Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States)

2015-09-01

The halo occupation distribution (HOD) approach has proven to be an effective method for modeling galaxy clustering and bias. In this approach, galaxies of a given type are probabilistically assigned to individual halos in N-body simulations. In this paper, we present a fast emulator for predicting the fully nonlinear galaxy–galaxy auto and galaxy–dark matter cross power spectrum and correlation function over a range of freely specifiable HOD modeling parameters. The emulator is constructed using results from 100 HOD models run on a large ΛCDM N-body simulation, with Gaussian Process interpolation applied to a PCA-based representation of the galaxy power spectrum. The total error is currently ∼1% in the auto correlations and ∼2% in the cross correlations from z = 1 to z = 0, over the considered parameter range. We use the emulator to investigate the accuracy of various analytic prescriptions for the galaxy power spectrum, parametric dependencies in the HOD model, and the behavior of galaxy bias as a function of HOD parameters. Additionally, we obtain fully nonlinear predictions for tangential shear correlations induced by galaxy–galaxy lensing from our galaxy–dark matter cross power spectrum emulator. All emulation products are publicly available at http://www.hep.anl.gov/cosmology/CosmicEmu/emu.html.

Cesium-plasma-conductivity enhancement in the advanced thermionic energy converter. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manikopoulos, C.N.

Two methods of plasma conductivity enhancement in a cesium vapor thermionic energy converter have been studied. The first involved resonance photoabsorption of several cesium lines and the second utilized cesium plasma sustenance by application of microwave power. An extensive study of ionization processes in a cesium discharge in the presence of resonance ionization was made. Calculations were made of expected percentage excitation levels for several cesium resonance transitions for different values of neutral density and temperature as well as incident radiation power levels. The results of some of these computations were tabulated. Several ionization schemes were considered. A number of cesium transitions were investigated in the range of 799 to 870 nanometers for four different cesium reservoir temperatures, 467, 511, 550 and 591 K. The related absorption coefficients of the radiation lines in the plasma were deduced and tabulated. The resulting plasma conductivity increase was recorded and the associated ionization enhancement was deduced. A microwave cavity was built where the emitter and collector of a simple thermionic converter made up two of the cavity walls and resonant microwave power was externally applied. The I-V characteristics of the thermionic converter were studied under several microwave power levels in the range of 0 to 2 watts. Significant shifts to higher currents were observed as the microwave power levels were raised. In conclusion, both methods show promise as auxiliary ionization mechanisms for the thermionic energy converter, especially at low emitter temperatures

Thermodynamics of photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reck, Kasper; Hansen, Ole

2014-01-01

Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) cells in which direct photon energy as well as thermal energy can be harvested have recently been suggested as a new candidate for high efficiency solar cells. Here, we present an analytic thermodynamical model for evaluation of the efficiency of PETE...

Thermionic emission of cermets made of refractory carbides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samsonow, G.W.; Bogomol, I.W.; Ochremtschuk, L.N.; Podtschernjajewa, I.A.; Fomenko, W.S.

1975-01-01

In order to improve the resistance to thermal variations of refractory carbides having good behavior for thermionic emission, they have been combined with transition metals d. Thermionic emission was studied with cermets in compact samples. Following systems were examined: TiC-Nb, TiC-Mo, TiC-W, ZrC-Nb, ZrC-Mo, ZrC-W, WC-Mo with compositions of: 75% M 1 C-25% M 2 , 50%M 1 C-50%M 2 , 25%M 1 C-75%M 2 . When following the variation of electron emission energy phi versus the composition, it appears that in the range of mixed crystals (M 1 M 2 )C, phi decreases and the resistance to thermal variations of these phases is higher than that of individual carbides. The study of obtained cermets shows that their resistance to thermal variations is largely superior to the one of starting carbides; TiC and ZrC carbides, combined with molybdenum and tungsten support the highest number of thermic cycles

Advances in Thermionic Energy Conversion through Single-Crystal n-Type Diamond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franz A. M. Koeck

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Thermionic energy conversion, a process that allows direct transformation of thermal to electrical energy, presents a means of efficient electrical power generation as the hot and cold side of the corresponding heat engine are separated by a vacuum gap. Conversion efficiencies approaching those of the Carnot cycle are possible if material parameters of the active elements at the converter, i.e., electron emitter or cathode and collector or anode, are optimized for operation in the desired temperature range. These parameters can be defined through the law of Richardson–Dushman that quantifies the ability of a material to release an electron current at a certain temperature as a function of the emission barrier or work function and the emission or Richardson constant. Engineering materials to defined parameter values presents the key challenge in constructing practical thermionic converters. The elevated temperature regime of operation presents a constraint that eliminates most semiconductors and identifies diamond, a wide band-gap semiconductor, as a suitable thermionic material through its unique material properties. For its surface, a configuration can be established, the negative electron affinity, that shifts the vacuum level below the conduction band minimum eliminating the surface barrier for electron emission. In addition, its ability to accept impurities as donor states allows materials engineering to control the work function and the emission constant. Single-crystal diamond electrodes with nitrogen levels at 1.7 eV and phosphorus levels at 0.6 eV were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition where the work function was controlled from 2.88 to 0.67 eV, one of the lowest thermionic work functions reported. This work function range was achieved through control of the doping concentration where a relation to the amount of band bending emerged. Upward band bending that contributed to the work function was attributed to

Gridded thermionic gun and integral superconducting ballistic bunch compression cavity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schultheiss, Thomas [Advanced Energy Systems, Inc., Medford, NY (United States)

2015-11-16

Electron-Ion colliders such as the Medium energy Electron Ion Collider (MEIC) being developed by JLAB require high current electrons with low energy spread for electron cooling of the collider ring. Accelerator techniques for improving bunch charge, average current, emittance, and energy spread are required for Energy Recovery Linacs (ERLs) and Circulator Rings (CR) for next generation colliders for nuclear physics experiments. Example candidates include thermionic-cathode electron guns with RF accelerating structures. Thermionic cathodes are known to produce high currents and have excellent lifetime. The success of the IR and THz Free-Electron Laser (FEL) designed and installed by Advanced Energy Systems at the Fritz Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max Planck Society in Berlin [1,2] demonstrates that gridded thermionic cathodes and rf systems be considered for next generation collider technology. In Phase 1 Advanced Energy Systems (AES) developed and analyzed a design concept using a superconducting cavity pair and gridded thermionic cathode. Analysis included Beam Dynamics and thermal analysis to show that a design of this type is feasible. The latest design goals for the MEIC electron cooler were for electron bunches of 420 pC at a frequency of 952.6 MHz with a magnetic field on the cathode of 2kG. This field magnetizes the beam imparting angular momentum that provides for helical motion of the electrons in the cooling solenoid. The helical motion increases the interaction time and improves the cooling efficiency. A coil positioned around the cathode providing 2kG field was developed. Beam dynamics simulations were run to develop the particle dynamics near the cathode and grid. Lloyd Young added capability to Tstep to include space charge effects between two plates and include image charge effects from the grid. He also added new pepper-pot geometry capability to account for honeycomb grids. These additions were used to develop the beam dynamics for this gun. The

Measured and Predicted Variations in Fast Neutron Spectrum when Penetrating Laminated Fe-D{sub 2}O

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aalto, E; Sandlin, R; Fraeki, R

1965-09-15

Variations of the fast neutron spectrum in thin regions of alternating Fe and D{sub O} have been studied using threshold detectors (ln(n, n' ), S(n, p), Al(n, {alpha})). The results have been compared to those calculated by two shielding codes (NRN and RASH D) of multigroup removal-diffusion type. The absolute fast spectrum calculated in our rather complicated configurations was found to agree with measurements within the same accuracy (a factor of two) as did the thermal flux. The calculated spectrum is slightly harder than the measured one, but the detailed variations (covering the range 1:5) in the form of the spectrum when penetrating Fe agree with observations to within 15-20 %. In and Al activities were found to be proportional to the integrated flux over 1 MeV throughout the whole configuration, while S showed the least proportionality.

Neutron dynamics of fast-spectrum dedicated cores for waste transmutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massara, S.

2002-04-01

Among different scenarios achieving minor actinide transmutation, the possibility of double strata scenarios with critical, fast spectrum, dedicated cores must be checked and quantified. In these cores, the waste fraction has to be at the highest level compatible with safety requirements during normal operation and transient conditions. As reactivity coefficients are poor in such critical cores (low delayed neutron fraction and Doppler feed-back, high coolant void coefficient), their dynamic behaviour during transient conditions must be carefully analysed. Three nitride-fuel configurations have been analysed: two liquid metal-cooled (sodium and lead) and a particle-fuel helium-cooled one. A dynamic code, MAT4 DYN, has been developed during the PhD thesis, allowing the study of loss of flow, reactivity insertion and loss of coolant accidents, and taking into account two fuel geometries (cylindrical and spherical) and two thermal-hydraulics models for the coolant (incompressible for liquid metals and compressible for helium). Dynamics calculations have shown that if the fuel nature is appropriately chosen (letting a sufficient margin during transients), this can counterbalance the bad state of reactivity coefficients for liquid metal-cooled cores, thus proving the interest of this kind of concept. On the other side, the gas-cooled core dynamics is very badly affected by the high value of the helium void coefficient (which is a consequence of the choice of a hard spectrum), this effect being amplified by the very low thermal inertia of particle-fuel design. So, a new kind of concept should be considered for a helium-cooled fast-spectrum dedicated core. (authors)

Photon enhanced thermionic emission

Science.gov (United States)

Schwede, Jared; Melosh, Nicholas; Shen, Zhixun

2014-10-07

Photon Enhanced Thermionic Emission (PETE) is exploited to provide improved efficiency for radiant energy conversion. A hot (greater than 200.degree. C.) semiconductor cathode is illuminated such that it emits electrons. Because the cathode is hot, significantly more electrons are emitted than would be emitted from a room temperature (or colder) cathode under the same illumination conditions. As a result of this increased electron emission, the energy conversion efficiency can be significantly increased relative to a conventional photovoltaic device. In PETE, the cathode electrons can be (and typically are) thermalized with respect to the cathode. As a result, PETE does not rely on emission of non-thermalized electrons, and is significantly easier to implement than hot-carrier emission approaches.

X-Band Thermionic Cathode RF Gun at UTNL

CERN Document Server

Fukasawa, Atsushi; Dobashi, Katsuhiro; Ebina, Futaro; Hayano, Hitoshi; Higo, Toshiyasu; Kaneyasu, Tatsuo; Matsuo, Kennichi; Ogino, Haruyuki; Sakae, Hisaharu; Sakamoto, Fumito; Uesaka, Mitsuru; Urakawa, Junji

2005-01-01

The X-band (11.424 GHz) linac for compact Compton scattering hard X-ray source are under construction at Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, University of Tokyo. This linac designed to accelerate up to 35 MeV, and this electron beam will be used to produce hard X-ray by colliding with laser. It consists of a thermionic cathode RF gun, an alpha magnet, and a traveling wave tube. The gun has 3.5 cells (unloaded Q is 8250) and will be operated at pi-mode. A dispenser cathode is introduced. Since the energy spread of the beam from the gun is predicted to be broad due to the continuous emission from the thermionic cathode, a slit is placed in the alpha magnet to eliminate low energy electrons. The simulation on the injector shows the beam energy 2.9 MeV, the charge 23 pC/bunch, and the emittance less than 10 mm.mrad. The experiment on the gun is planed in the beginning of 2005, and the details will be discussed on the spot.

Thermionic cogeneration burner assessment study. Third quarterly technical progress report, April-June, 1983

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1983-01-01

The specific tasks of this study are to mathematically model the thermionic cogeneration burner, experimentally confirm the projected energy flows in a thermal mock-up, make a cost estimate of the burner, including manufacturing, installation and maintenance, review industries in general and determine what groups of industries would be able to use the electrical power generated in the process, select one or more industries out of those for an in-depth study, including determination of the performance required for a thermionic cogeneration system to be competitive in that industry. Progress is reported. (WHK)

Fast-Mixed Spectrum Reactor. Progress report for 1979

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, G.J.; Cerbone, R.J.

1980-05-01

This report summarizes the progress of the Fast Mixed Spectrum Reactor (FMSR) since the publication of the Interim Report in January 1979. The FMSR program was initiated to determine the feasibility of a breeder reactor concept which operated on a once-through-and-store fuel cycle and for which the only feed would be natural uranium. A first or startup core enriched to a maximum of about eleven percent in uranium-235 would be required. The concept has excellent antiproliferation advantages. In the once-through and store mode, the FMSR has a resource utilization which is a factor of four higher than a light water reactor

Neutron-induced nuclear data for the MYRRHA fast spectrum facility

OpenAIRE

Romojaro Pablo; Žerovnik Gašper; Álvarez-Velarde Francisco; Stankovskiy Alexey; Kodeli Ivan; Fiorito Luca; Díez Carlos Javier; Cabellos Óscar; García-Herranz Nuria; Heyse Jan; Paradela Carlos; Schillebeeckx Peter; Eynde Gert Van den

2017-01-01

The MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) concept is a flexible experimental lead-bismuth cooled and mixed-oxide (MOX) fueled fast spectrum facility designed to operate both in sub-critical (accelerator driven) and critical modes. One of the key issues for the safe operation of the reactor is the uncertainty assessment during the design works. The main objective of the European project CHANDA (solving CHAllenges in Nuclear DAta) Work Package 10 is to improv...

Processes of preparation, deposition and analysis of thermionic emissive substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romao, B.M. Verdelli; Muraro Junior, A.; Tessaroto, L.A.B.; Takahashi, J.

1992-09-01

This paper shows the results of the optimization of the process of preparation and deposition of thermionic emissive substances that are used in the oxide-cathodes which are utilized in the gun of the IEAv linear electron accelerator. (author). 5 refs., 5 figs

Simulation and Comparison Between Slow and Fast FH/BPSK Spread Spectrum Using Matlab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanaa Said Kadhim

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the properties and applications of Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS.  FHSS is radio communication technique by which the sender of information sends the data on a radio channel, which changes the frequency of transmission based on a predetermined sequence of code. The FHSS has many advantages over traditional modulation methods, it can overcome fading, multipath channels and interferences. Hence the interception becomes difficult. This security feature makes FHSS more preferable for  military applications. At the receiver side, the signal is demodulated by the same carrier signal for which frequency changes by the same code sequences used by the sender. This paper presents two types of FHSS, slow and fast. The  simulation procedures of both types were  implemented and applied on   Frequency Hopping /Binary Phase Shift Keying (FH/BPSK spread spectrum system using MATLAB. The simulation sequences for fast and slow frequency hopping is the same in number  and frequencies of spreading carriers and both used BPSK traditional modulation type. The  comparison  results  based on their power spectral density   show that the fast frequency hopping is more resistive to noise the slow one.

Method to Reduce Long-lived Fission Products by Nuclear Transmutations with Fast Spectrum Reactors.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiba, Satoshi; Wakabayashi, Toshio; Tachi, Yoshiaki; Takaki, Naoyuki; Terashima, Atsunori; Okumura, Shin; Yoshida, Tadashi

2017-10-24

Transmutation of long-lived fission products (LLFPs: 79 Se, 93 Zr, 99 Tc, 107 Pd, 129 I, and 135 Cs) into short-lived or non-radioactive nuclides by fast neutron spectrum reactors without isotope separation has been proposed as a solution to the problem of radioactive wastes disposal. Despite investigation of many methods, such transmutation remains technologically difficult. To establish an effective and efficient transmutation system, we propose a novel neutron moderator material, yttrium deuteride (YD 2 ), to soften the neutron spectrum leaking from the reactor core. Neutron energy spectra and effective half-lives of LLFPs, transmutation rates, and support ratios were evaluated with the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP-II/MVP-BURN and the JENDL-4.0 cross section library. With the YD 2 moderator in the radial blanket and shield regions, effective half-lives drastically decreased from 106 to 102 years and the support ratios reached 1.0 for all six LLFPs. This successful development and implementation of a transmutation system for LLFPs without isotope separation contributes to a the ability of fast spectrum reactors to reduce radioactive waste by consuming their own LLFPs.

Thermionic reactor power conditioner design for nuclear electric propulsion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, A. S.; Tasca, D. M.

1971-01-01

Consideration of the effects of various thermionic reactor parameters and requirements upon spacecraft power conditioning design. A basic spacecraft is defined using nuclear electric propulsion, requiring approximately 120 kWe. The interrelationships of reactor operating characteristics and power conditioning requirements are discussed and evaluated, and the effects on power conditioner design and performance are presented.

Thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) technique for magnesium thin film deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balbag, M.Z., E-mail: zbalbag@ogu.edu.t [Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Education Faculty, Primary Education, Meselik Campus, Eskisehir 26480 (Turkey); Pat, S.; Ozkan, M.; Ekem, N. [Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Art and Science Faculty, Physics Department, Eskisehir 26480 (Turkey); Musa, G. [Ovidius University, Physics Department, Constanta (Romania)

2010-08-15

In this study, magnesium thin films were deposited on glass substrate by the Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) technique for the first time. We present a different technique for deposition of high-quality magnesium thin films. By means of this technique, the production of films is achieved by condensing the plasma of anode material generated using Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) under high vacuum conditions onto the surface to be coated. The crystal orientation and morphology of the deposited films were investigated by using XRD, EDX, SEM and AFM. The aim of this study is to search the use of TVA technique to coat magnesium thin films and to determine some of the physical properties of the films generated. Furthermore, this study will contribute to the scientific studies which search the thin films of magnesium or the compounds containing magnesium. In future, this study will be preliminary work to entirely produce magnesium diboride (MgB{sub 2}) superconductor thin film with the TVA technique.

The Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET): Descriptions, limitations, and the involvement of the space nuclear power community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, D.B.

1993-01-01

Project and test planning for the Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET) Project began in August 1990. Since the formalization of the contract agreement two years ago, the TOPAZ-II testing hardware was delivered in May 1992. In the months since the delivery of the test hardware, Russians and Americans working side-by-side installed the equipment and are preparing to begin testing in early 1993. The procurement of the Russian TOPAZ-II unfueled thermionic space nuclear power system (SNP) provides a unique opportunity to understand a complete thermionic system and enhances the possibility for further study of this type of power conversion for space applications. This paper will describe the program and test article, facility and test article limitations, and how the government and industry are encouraged to be involved in the program

3-D simulation study for a thermionic RF gun using an FDTD method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hama, H. E-mail: hama@lns.tohoku.ac.jp; Hinode, F.; Shinto, K.; Miyamoto, A.; Tanaka, T

2004-08-01

Beam dynamics in a thermionic RF gun for a new pre-injector in a future synchrotron radiation facility at Tohoku university has been studied by developing a 3-D Maxwell's equation solver. Backbombardment (BB) effect on a cathode, which is a crucial problem for performance of the thermionic RF gun, has been investigated. It is found that an external dipole magnetic field applying around the cathode is effective to reduce high-energy backstreaming electrons from the accelerating cell. However, the low-energy electrons coming back from the first cell inevitably hit the cathode, so that characteristics of the cathode material seems to be crucial for reduction of the BB effect.

A thermionic energy converter with a molybdenum-alumina cermet emitter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gubbels, G.H.M.; Wolff, L.R.; Metselaar, R.

1990-01-01

A study is made of the properties of cermets as electrode materials for thermionic energy converters. For thermodynamic reasons it is expected that all cermets composed of pure Mo and refractory oxides have the same bare work function. From data on the work function of Mo in an oxygen atmosphere

Negative space charge effects in photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar converters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segev, G.; Weisman, D.; Rosenwaks, Y.; Kribus, A.

2015-01-01

In thermionic energy converters, electrons in the gap between electrodes form a negative space charge and inhibit the emission of additional electrons, causing a significant reduction in conversion efficiency. However, in Photon Enhanced Thermionic Emission (PETE) solar energy converters, electrons that are reflected by the electric field in the gap return to the cathode with energy above the conduction band minimum. These electrons first occupy the conduction band from which they can be reemitted. This form of electron recycling makes PETE converters less susceptible to negative space charge loss. While the negative space charge effect was studied extensively in thermionic converters, modeling its effect in PETE converters does not account for important issues such as this form of electron recycling, nor the cathode thermal energy balance. Here, we investigate the space charge effect in PETE solar converters accounting for electron recycling, with full coupling of the cathode and gap models, and addressing conservation of both electric and thermal energy. The analysis shows that the negative space charge loss is lower than previously reported, allowing somewhat larger gaps compared to previous predictions. For a converter with a specific gap, there is an optimal solar flux concentration. The optimal solar flux concentration, the cathode temperature, and the efficiency all increase with smaller gaps. For example, for a gap of 3 μm the maximum efficiency is 38% and the optimal flux concentration is 628, while for a gap of 5 μm the maximum efficiency is 31% and optimal flux concentration is 163

Fast-mixed spectrum reactor interim report initial feasibility study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, G.J.; Cerbone, R.J.

1979-01-01

The report summarizes the results of an initial four-month feasibility study of the Fast-Mixed Spectrum Reactor (FMSR). Reactor physics, fuel cycle, and thermal-hydraulic analyses were performed on a reference design. These results when coupled to a fuel and materials evaluation performed in cooperation with the Argonne National Laboratory indicate that the FMSR is feasible provided the fuels, cladding, and subassembly ducts can survive a peak fuel burnup of 15 to 20 atom percent heavy metal and peak fluences of 8 x 10 23 (nvt > 0.1 MeV). The results of this short study have also provided a basis for exploring alternative designs requiring significantly lower peak burnup and fluences for their operation

Control for nuclear thermionic power source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, J.C.; Sawyer, C.D.

1978-01-01

A control for a power source is described which includes nuclear fuel interspersed with thermionic converters, including a power regulator that maintains a substantially constant output voltage to a variable load, and a control circuit that drives a neutron flux regulator in accordance with the current supplied to the power regulator and the neutron flux density in the region of the converters. The control circuit generates a control signal which is the difference between the neutron flux density and a linear fucntion of the current, and which drives the neutron regulator in a direction to decrease or increase the neutron flux according to the polarity of the control signal

Development of integrated thermionic circuits for high-temperature applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCormick, J.B.; Wilde, D.; Depp, S.; Hamilton, D.J.; Kerwin, W.; Derouin, C.; Roybal, L.; Dooley, R.

1981-01-01

A class of devices known as integrated thermionic circuits (ITC) capable of extended operation in ambient temperatures up to 500 0 C is described. The evolution of the ITC concept is discussed. A set of practical design and performance equations is demonstrated. Recent experimental results are discussed in which both devices and simple circuits have successfully operated in 500 0 C environments for extended periods of time

Design study on an independently-tunable-cells thermionic RF gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hama, H.; Tanaka, T.; Hinode, F.; Kawai, M.

2006-01-01

Characteristics of a thermionic RF gun have been studied by a 3-D simulation code developed using an FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) method as a Maxwell's equations solver. The gun is consists of two independent power feeding cavities, so that we call it independently-tunable-cells (ITC)'-RF gun. The first cell is the cathode cell and the second one is an accelerating cell. The ITC gun can be operated at various modes of different RF-power ratio and phase between two cavities. Simulation study shows a velocity-bunching like effect may be occurred in the gun, so that the short pulse beam from the thermionic RF gun is a better candidate to produce the coherent THz synchrotron radiation. Expected bunch length with a total charge of ∼20 pC (1% energy width from the top energy) is around 200 fs (fwhm). Even the beam energy extracted from the gun is varied by which the input powers are changed, almost same shape of the longitudinal phase space can be produced by tuning the phase. (author)

Work function and surface stability of tungsten-based thermionic electron emission cathodes

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Ryan; Morgan, Dane; Booske, John

2017-11-01

Materials that exhibit a low work function and therefore easily emit electrons into vacuum form the basis of electronic devices used in applications ranging from satellite communications to thermionic energy conversion. W-Ba-O is the canonical materials system that functions as the thermionic electron emitter commercially used in a range of high-power electron devices. However, the work functions, surface stability, and kinetic characteristics of a polycrystalline W emitter surface are still not well understood or characterized. In this study, we examined the work function and surface stability of the eight lowest index surfaces of the W-Ba-O system using density functional theory methods. We found that under the typical thermionic cathode operating conditions of high temperature and low oxygen partial pressure, the most stable surface adsorbates are Ba-O species with compositions in the range of Ba0.125O-Ba0.25O per surface W atom, with O passivating all dangling W bonds and Ba creating work function-lowering surface dipoles. Wulff construction analysis reveals that the presence of O and Ba significantly alters the surface energetics and changes the proportions of surface facets present under equilibrium conditions. Analysis of previously published data on W sintering kinetics suggests that fine W particles in the size range of 100-500 nm may be at or near equilibrium during cathode synthesis and thus may exhibit surface orientation fractions well described by the calculated Wulff construction.

A thermionic energy converter with A molybdenum alumina cermet emitter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gubbels, G.H.M.; Wolff, L.R.; Metselaar, R.; Yogi Goswami, D.

1988-01-01

The I-V characteristics of a thermionic converter equipped with a Mo-1w/o AI203 emitter and a Mo collector were measured. The conditions were varied over a limited range without, as well as with Cs. Work functions of Mo as well as Mo-1w/o AI203 were determined. Measurements were carried out in a

System modeling and reactor design studies of the Advanced Thermionic Initiative space nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, H.H.; Abdul-Hamid, S.; Klein, A.C.

1996-01-01

In-core thermionic space reactor design concepts that operate at a nominal power output range of 20 to 50 kW(electric) are described. Details of the neutronic, thermionic, thermal hydraulics, and shielding performance are presented. Because of the strong absorption of thermal neutrons by natural tungsten and the large amount of natural tungsten within the reactor core, two designs are considered. An overall system design code has been developed at Oregon State University to model advanced in-core thermionic energy conversion-based nuclear reactor systems for space applications. The results show that the driverless single-cell Advanced Thermionic Initiative (ATI) configuration, which does not have driver fuel rods, proved to be more efficient than the driven core, which has driver rods. The results also show that the inclusion of the true axial and radial power distribution decrease the overall conversion efficiency. The flattening of the radial power distribution by three different methods would lead to a higher efficiency. The results show that only one TFE works at the optimum emitter temperature; all other TFEs are off the optimum performance and result in a 40% decrease of the efficiency of the overall system. The true axial profile is significantly different as there is a considerable amount of neutron leakage out of the top and bottom of the reactor. The analysis reveals that the axial power profile actually has a chopped cosine shape. For this axial profile, the reactor core overall efficiency for the driverless ATI reactor version is found to be 5.84% with a total electrical power of 21.92 kW(electric). By considering the true axial power profile instead of the uniform power profile, each TFE loses ∼80 W(electric)

Communication: IR spectroscopy of neutral transition metal clusters through thermionic emission

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lapoutre, V. J. F.; Haertelt, M.; Meijer, G.; Fielicke, A.; Bakker, J. M.

2013-01-01

The resonant multiple photon excitation of neutral niobium clusters using tunable infrared (IR) radiation leads to thermionic emission. By measuring the mass-resolved ionization yield as a function of IR wavenumber species selective IR spectra are obtained for Nb-n (n = 5-20) over the 200-350 cm(-1)

Beam emittance measurement from CERN thermionic guns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kester, O.; Rao, R.; Rinolfi, L.

1992-01-01

In the LEP Injector Linacs (LIL) a thermionic gun provides electron beams with different peak intensities at an energy of 80 keV. The beam emittances were estimated from the EGUN programme. Since the gun is of triode type, the main contribution to the emittance comes from the grid. The simulation programme does not model the real geometry by assuming a cylindrical symmetry, while the grid does not have such symmetry. A Gun Test Facility (GTF), allowing emittance measurements, based on the 3-gradients-method was installed. The experimental results are presented. (author) 6 refs.; 6 figs

Experimental and numerical studies of the fast ions confined in TFR 600 during fast neutrals injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagey, B.

1980-08-01

We present a comparison between experimental fast neutrals spectrum measured with a very simple electrostatic analyzer which has been absolutely calibrated, spectrum obtained during fast neutrals injection in TFR 600, and numerical fast neutrals spectrum obtained from a modified Monte-Carlo calculation code. This comparison allows us to draw important conclusions on the fast ions behavior in the plasma

Small ex-core heat pipe thermionic reactor concept (SEHPTR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacox, M.G.; Bennett, R.G.; Lundberg, L.B.; Miller, B.G.; Drexler, R.L.

1991-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has developed an innovative space nuclear power concept with unique features and significant advantages for both Defense and Civilian space missions. The Small Ex-core Heat Pipe Thermionic Reactor (SEHPTR) concept was developed in response to Air Force needs for space nuclear power in the range of 10 to 40 kilowatts. This paper describes the SEHPTR concept and discusses the key technical issues and advantages of such a system

Solid-State Thermionic Nuclear Power for Megawatt Propulsion, Planetary Surface and Commercial Power Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Thermionic (TI) power conversion is a promising technology first investigated for power conversion in the 1960’s, and of renewed interest due to modern...

Thermionic field emission in gold nitride Schottky nanodiodes

Science.gov (United States)

Spyropoulos-Antonakakis, N.; Sarantopoulou, E.; Kollia, Z.; Samardžija, Z.; Kobe, S.; Cefalas, A. C.

2012-11-01

We report on the thermionic field emission and charge transport properties of gold nitride nanodomains grown by pulsed laser deposition with a molecular fluorine laser at 157 nm. The nanodomains are sandwiched between the metallic tip of a conductive atomic force microscope and a thin gold layer forming thus a metal-semiconductor-metal junction. Although the limited existing data in the literature indicate that gold nitride was synthesized previously with low efficiency, poor stability, and metallic character; in this work, it is shown that gold nitride nanodomains exhibit semiconducting behavior and the metal-semiconductor-metal contact can be modeled with the back-to-back Schottky barrier model. From the experimental I-V curves, the main charge carrier transport process is found to be thermionic field emission via electron tunneling. The rectifying, near symmetric and asymmetric current response of nanocontacts is related to the effective contact area of the gold nitride nanodomains with the metals. A lower limit for the majority charge carriers concentration at the boundaries of nanodomains is also established using the full depletion approximation, as nanodomains with thickness as low as 6 nm were found to be conductive. Current rectification and charge memory effects are also observed in "quite small" conductive nanodomains (6-10 nm) due to stored charges. Indeed, charges near the surface are identified as inversion domains in the phase shift mapping performed with electrostatic force microscopy and are attributed to charge trapping at the boundaries of the nanodomains.

Thermionic Properties of Carbon Based Nanomaterials Produced by Microhollow Cathode PECVD

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, John R.; Wolinksy, Jason J.; Bailey, Paul S.; George, Jeffrey A.; Go, David B.

2015-01-01

Thermionic emission is the process in which materials at sufficiently high temperature spontaneously emit electrons. This process occurs when electrons in a material gain sufficient thermal energy from heating to overcome the material's potential barrier, referred to as the work function. For most bulk materials very high temperatures (greater than 1500 K) are needed to produce appreciable emission. Carbon-based nanomaterials have shown significant promise as emission materials because of their low work functions, nanoscale geometry, and negative electron affinity. One method of producing these materials is through the process known as microhollow cathode PECVD. In a microhollow cathode plasma, high energy electrons oscillate at very high energies through the Pendel effect. These high energy electrons create numerous radical species and the technique has been shown to be an effective method of growing carbon based nanomaterials. In this work, we explore the thermionic emission properties of carbon based nanomaterials produced by microhollow cathode PECVD under a variety of synthesis conditions. Initial studies demonstrate measureable current at low temperatures (approximately 800 K) and work functions (approximately 3.3 eV) for these materials.

THERMIONIC EMISSION ENHANCEMENT FROM CESIUM COATED RHENIUM IN ELECTRIC FIELDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Steese, J. G.; Zollweg, R. J.

1963-04-15

The plasma-anode technique was used to observe anomalously high thermionic emission from a rhenium surface with small cesium coverage, where the work function of the composite surface is greater than the ionization potential of cesium. Data suggest that emission enhancement is caused by increased cesium coverage because of cesiumion trapping near the emitter surface under the influence of an ion-rich sheath. (auth)

Advantages and implications of U233 fueled thermionic space power energy conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terrell, C.W.

1992-01-01

In this paper two recent analyses are reported which demonstrate advantages of a U233 fueled thermionic fuel element (TFE) compared to 93 w/o U235, and that application (mission) has broad latitude in how space power reactor systems could or should be optimized. A reference thermionic reactor system was selected to provide the basis for the fuel comparisons. Both oxide and metal fuel forms were compared. Of special interest was to estimate the efficiencies of the four fuel forms to produce electrical power. A figure of merit (FOM) was defined which is directly proportional to the electrical average electrical power produced is proportional to the electrical power produced per unit uranium mass. In a TFE the average electrical power produced is proportional to the emitter surface area (Esa), hence the ratio Esa/Mu was selected as the FOM. Results indicate that the choice of fuel type and form leads to wide variations in critical and system masses FOM values, and system total power

Nano-textured W shows improvement of thermionic emission properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barmina, E.V.; Serkov, A.A.; Shafeev, G.A. [General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Wave Research Center of A.M. Prokhorov, Moscow (Russian Federation); Stratakis, E. [Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, (IESL-FORTH), Heraklion (Greece); University of Crete, Materials Science and Technology Department, Heraklion (Greece); Fotakis, C. [Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, (IESL-FORTH), Heraklion (Greece); University of Crete, Physics Department, Heraklion (Greece); Stolyarov, V.N.; Stolyarov, I.N. [Roentgenprom, Protvino, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2012-01-15

Laser-assisted nano-texturing of W substrates cathodes via ablation in liquid environment is experimentally realized. Two laser sources are used, either a Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser or a Nd:YAG laser with pulse duration of 350 ps. Laser exposure of W results in the formation of hemi-spherical nanostructures situated on top of periodic ripples. Nano-textured thermionic W cathode demonstrates the decrease of the efficient work function by 0.3 eV compared to pristine surface. (orig.)

The FTS atomic spectrum tool (FAST) for rapid analysis of line spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffoni, M. P.

2013-07-01

The FTS Atomic Spectrum Tool (FAST) is an interactive graphical program designed to simplify the analysis of atomic emission line spectra obtained from Fourier transform spectrometers. Calculated, predicted and/or known experimental line parameters are loaded alongside experimentally observed spectral line profiles for easy comparison between new experimental data and existing results. Many such line profiles, which could span numerous spectra, may be viewed simultaneously to help the user detect problems from line blending or self-absorption. Once the user has determined that their experimental line profile fits are good, a key feature of FAST is the ability to calculate atomic branching fractions, transition probabilities, and oscillator strengths-and their uncertainties-which is not provided by existing analysis packages. Program SummaryProgram title: FAST: The FTS Atomic Spectrum Tool Catalogue identifier: AEOW_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEOW_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: GNU General Public License version 3 No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 293058 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 13809509 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C++. Computer: Intel x86-based systems. Operating system: Linux/Unix/Windows. RAM: 8 MB minimum. About 50-200 MB for a typical analysis. Classification: 2.2, 2.3, 21.2. Nature of problem: Visualisation of atomic line spectra including the comparison of theoretical line parameters with experimental atomic line profiles. Accurate intensity calibration of experimental spectra, and the determination of observed relative line intensities that are needed for calculating atomic branching fractions and oscillator strengths. Solution method: FAST is centred around a graphical interface, where a user may view sets of experimental line profiles and compare

High Efficiency Thermionics (HET-IV) and Converter Advancement (CAP) programs. Final reports

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geller, C.B.; Murray, C.S.; Riley, D.R. [Bettis Atomic Power Lab., West Mifflin, PA (United States); Desplat, J.L.; Hansen, L.K.; Hatch, G.L.; McVey, J.B.; Rasor, N.S. [Rasor Associates, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (United States)

1996-04-01

This report contains the final report of the High Efficiency Thermionics (HET-IV) Program, Attachment A, performed at Rasor Associates, Inc. (RAI); and the final report of the Converter Advancement Program (CAP), performed at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, Attachment B. The phenomenology of cesium-oxygen thermionic converters was elucidated in these programs, and the factors that had prevented the achievement of stable, enhanced cesium-oxygen converter performance for the previous thirty years were identified. Based on these discoveries, cesium-oxygen vapor sources were developed that achieved stable performance with factor-of-two improvements in power density and thermal efficiency, relative to conventional, cesium-only ignited mode thermionic converters. Key achievements of the HET-IV/CAP programs are as follows: a new technique for measuring minute traces of oxygen in cesium atmospheres; the determination of the proper range of oxygen partial pressures for optimum converter performance--10{sup {minus}7} to 10{sup {minus}9} torr; the discovery, and analysis of the cesium-oxygen liquid migration and compositional segregation phenomena; the successful use of capillary forces to contain the migration phenomenon; the use of differential heating to control compositional segregation, and induce vapor circulation; the development of mechanically and chemically stable, porous reservoir structures; the development of precise, in situ oxygen charging methods; stable improvements in emitter performance, up to effective emitter bare work functions of 5.4 eV; stable improvements in barrier index, to value below 1.8 Volts; the development of detailed microscopic models for cesium-oxygen reservoir dynamics and collector work function behavior; and the discovery of new relationships between electrode geometry and Schock Instability.

Effect of Fast Neutron to MA/PU Burning/Transmutation Characteristic Using a Fast Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsodi; Lasman, As Natio; Kimamoto, A.; Marsongkohadi; Zaki, S.

2003-01-01

MA/Pu burning/transmutation has been studied and evaluated using fast neutrons. Generally, neutron density at this fast burner reactor and transmutation has spectrum energy level around 0.2 MeV with wide enough variation, i.e. from low neutron spectrum to its peak is 0.2 MeV. This neutron spectrum energy level depends on the kind of cooler material or fuel used. Neutron spectrum higher than fast power reactor neutron spectrum is found by means of changing oxide fuel by metallic fuel and changing natrium cooler material by metallic or gas cooler material. This evaluation is conducted by various variations in accordance with the kind of fuel or cooler, MA/Pu fractions and fuel comparison fraction with respect to its cooler in order to get better neutron usage and MA/Pu burning speed. Reactor calculation evaluation in this paper was conducted with 26-group nuclear data cross section energy spectrum. The main purpose of the discussion is to know the effect of fast neutrons to burning/transmutation MA/Pu using fast neutrons

Thermionic system evaluation test (TSET) facility construction: A United States and Russian effort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wold, S.K.

1993-01-01

The Thermionic System Evaluation Test (TSET) is a ground test of an unfueled Russian TOPAZ-II in-core thermionic space reactor powered by electric heaters. The facility that will be used for testing of the TOPAZ-II systems is located at the New Mexico Engineering Research Institute (NMERI) complex in Albuquerque, NM. The reassembly of the Russian test equipment is the responsibility of International Scientific Products (ISP), a San Jose, CA, company and Inertek, a Russian corporation, with support provided by engineers and technicians from Phillips Laboratory (PL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the University of New Mexico (UNM). This test is the first test to be performed under the New Mexico Strategic Alliance agreement. This alliance consists of the PL, SNL, LANL, and UNM. The testing is being funded by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) with the PL responsible for project execution

A high-brightness thermionic microwave electron gun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borland, Michael [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

1991-02-01

In a collaborative effort by SSRL, AET Associates, and Varian Associates, a high-brightness microwave electron gun using a thermionic cathode has been designed, built, tested, and installed for use with the SSRL 150 MeV linear accelerator. This thesis discusses the physics behind the design and operation of the gun and associated systems, presenting predictions and experimental tests of the gun`s performance. The microwave gun concept is of increasing interest due to its promise of providing higher-current, lower-emittance electron beams than possible from conventional, DC gun technology. In a DC guns, accelerating gradients are less than 8 MV/m, while those in a microwave gun can exceed 100 MV/m, providing much more rapid initial acceleration, thereby reducing the deleterious effects of space-charge. Microwave guns produce higher momentum beams than DC guns, thus lessening space-charge effects during subsequent beam transport. Typical DC guns produce kinetic energies of 80--400 KeV, compared to 2--3 MeV for the SSRL microwave gun. ``State-of-the-art`` microwave gun designs employ laser-driven photocathodes, providing excellent performance but with greater complexity and monetary costs. A thermionic microwave gun with a magnetic bunching system is comparable in cost and complexity to a conventional system, but provides performance that is orders of magnitude better. Simulations of the SSRL microwave gun predict a normalized RMS emittance at the gun exist of < 10 π • m_ec • μm for a beam consisting of approximately 50% of the particles emitted from the gun, and having a momentum spread ±10%. These emittances are for up to 5 x 10⁹e^- per bunch. Chromatic aberrations in the transport line between the gun and linear accelerator increase this to typically < 30 π • m_e • μm.

A high-brightness thermionic microwave electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borland, M.

1991-02-01

In a collaborative effort by SSRL, AET Associates, and Varian Associates, a high-brightness microwave electron gun using a thermionic cathode has been designed, built, tested, and installed for use with the SSRL 150 MeV linear accelerator. This thesis discusses the physics behind the design and operation of the gun and associated systems, presenting predictions and experimental tests of the gun's performance. The microwave gun concept is of increasing interest due to its promise of providing higher-current, lower-emittance electron beams than possible from conventional, DC gun technology. In a DC guns, accelerating gradients are less than 8 MV/m, while those in a microwave gun can exceed 100 MV/m, providing much more rapid initial acceleration, thereby reducing the deleterious effects of space-charge. Microwave guns produce higher momentum beams than DC guns, thus lessening space-charge effects during subsequent beam transport. Typical DC guns produce kinetic energies of 80--400 KeV, compared to 2--3 MeV for the SSRL microwave gun. ''State-of-the-art'' microwave gun designs employ laser-driven photocathodes, providing excellent performance but with greater complexity and monetary costs. A thermionic microwave gun with a magnetic bunching system is comparable in cost and complexity to a conventional system, but provides performance that is orders of magnitude better. Simulations of the SSRL microwave gun predict a normalized RMS emittance at the gun exist of e c · μm for a beam consisting of approximately 50% of the particles emitted from the gun, and having a momentum spread ±10%. These emittances are for up to 5 x 10 9 e - per bunch. Chromatic aberrations in the transport line between the gun and linear accelerator increase this to typically e · μm

Fermi level splitting and thermionic current improvement in low-dimensional multi-quantum-well (MQW) p-i-n structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varonides, Argyrios C.

2006-01-01

Photo-excitation and subsequent thermionic currents are essential components of photo-excited carrier transport in multi-quantum-well photovoltaic (hetero-PV) structures. p-i-n multi-quantum structures are useful probes for a better understanding of PV device properties. Illumination of the intrinsic region of p-i-n multi-structures causes carrier trapping in any of the quantum wells, and subsequent carrier recombination or thermal escape is possible. At the vicinity of a quantum well, we find that the (quasi) Fermi levels undergo an upward split by a small, but non-negligible, energy amount ΔE F in the order of 12 meV. We conclude this fact by comparing the photo-excited carriers trapped in a quantum well, under illumination, to the carrier concentrations under dark. Based on such a prediction, we subsequently relate thermionic current density dependence on Fermi level splitting, concluding that excess thermal currents may increase by a factor of the order of 2. We conclude that illumination causes (a) Fermi level separation and (b) an apparent increase in thermionic currents

Numerical simulations of the thermionic electron gun for electron-beam welding and micromachining

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jánský, Pavel; Zlámal, J.; Lencová, Bohumila; Zobač, Martin; Vlček, Ivan; Radlička, Tomáš

2009-01-01

Roč. 84, č. 2 (2009), s. 357-362 ISSN 0042-207X R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA100650805 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20650511 Keywords : Numerical simulation * Thermionic emission * Electron gun Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering Impact factor: 0.975, year: 2009

Simple model for the description of a thermionic Cs diode in operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tschersich, K.G.

1975-01-01

Because of the small voltage loss in the space between the electrodes, Cs is the most common work medium in thermionic diodes. With the model calculations of the processes in the space between the electrodes, the author aims to explain the formation of Cs ions and the current transport through the electrode gap at these low voltages. (RW/AK) [de

Measures to alleviate the back bombardment effect of thermionic rf electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Y.; Xie, J.

1991-01-01

Thermionic rf electron gun finds application as a high brightness electron source for rf linacs. However, cathode heating from back-bombardment effect causes a ramp in the macro-pulse beam current and limit the usable pulse width. Three methods: ring cathode, magnetic deflection and laser assisted heating are studied in theory and in experiment. The results of these studies are reported

Fracture-resistant ultralloys for space-power systems: nuclear-thermionic-conversion implications of W,27Re

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moraga, N.O.; Jacobsen, D.L.; Morris, J.F.

1989-01-01

Rhenium (Re) added to tungsten (W) improves the creep strength, recrystallization resistance and ductility. W,27Re is a good workable ultra alloy for use in space nuclear reactor (SNR) systems and perhaps its most practical processing procedure is sintering. A promising SNR application for such ultralloys is very-high-temperature thermionic energy conversion. Therefore determinations of thermionic and thermal emissive characteristics for sintered W,27Re at temperatures near and above 2000 K in hard vacuum enable both scientific and pragmatic progress. Such research results comprise the data and interpretive presentations in this paper. These findings emphasize the fallacy of characterizing ultralloys similar to W,27Re with single-valued thermophysicochemical properties - such as the work function. They further stress the necessity for investigations of this type to determine and demonstrate effective prototypic ultralloy compositions and processing methods. (author)

Theory of thermionic emission from a two-dimensional conductor and its application to a graphene-semiconductor Schottky junction

Science.gov (United States)

Trushin, Maxim

2018-04-01

The standard theory of thermionic emission developed for three-dimensional semiconductors does not apply to two-dimensional materials even for making qualitative predictions because of the vanishing out-of-plane quasiparticle velocity. This study reveals the fundamental origin of the out-of-plane charge carrier motion in a two-dimensional conductor due to the finite quasiparticle lifetime and huge uncertainty of the out-of-plane momentum. The theory is applied to a Schottky junction between graphene and a bulk semiconductor to derive a thermionic constant, which, in contrast to the conventional Richardson constant, is determined by the Schottky barrier height and Fermi level in graphene.

Development of Kabila rocket: A radioisotope heated thermionic plasma rocket engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalomba Mboyi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A new type of plasma rocket engine, the Kabila rocket, using a radioisotope heated thermionic heating chamber instead of a conventional combustion chamber or catalyst bed is introduced and it achieves specific impulses similar to the ones of conventional solid and bipropellant rockets. Curium-244 is chosen as a radioisotope heat source and a thermal reductive layer is also used to obtain precise thermionic emissions. The self-sufficiency principle is applied by simultaneously heating up the emitting material with the radioisotope decay heat and by powering the different valves of the plasma rocket engine with the same radioisotope decay heat using a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. This rocket engine is then benchmarked against a 1 N hydrazine thruster configuration operated on one of the Pleiades-HR-1 constellation spacecraft. A maximal specific impulse and power saving of respectively 529 s and 32% are achieved with helium as propellant. Its advantages are its power saving capability, high specific impulses and simultaneous ease of storage and restart. It can however be extremely voluminous and potentially hazardous. The Kabila rocket is found to bring great benefits to the existing spacecraft and further research should optimize its geometric characteristics and investigate the physical principals of its operation.

Accurate reactivity void coefficient calculation for the fast spectrum reactor FBR-IME

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lima, Fabiano P.C.; Vellozo, Sergio de O.; Velozo, Marta J., E-mail: fabianopetruceli@outlook.com, E-mail: vellozo@cbpf.br, E-mail: martajann@gmail.com [Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Secao de Engenharia Militar

2017-07-01

This paper aims to present an accurate calculation of the void reactivity coefficient for the FBR-IME, a fast spectrum reactor in development at the Engineering Military Institute (IME). The main design peculiarity lies in using mixed oxide [MOX - PuO{sub 2} + U(natural uranium)O{sub 2}] as fuel core. For this task, SCALE system was used to calculate the reactivity for several voids distributions generated by bubbles in the sodium beyond its boiling point. The results show that although the void reactivity coefficient is positive and location dependent, they are offset by other feedback effects, resulting in a negative overall coefficient. (author)

Nuclear thermionic power plant integration problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraas, A.P.

1967-02-01

The numerous boundary conditions to be met in preparing a well proportioned, properly integrated design for a thermionic cell reactor are discussed with the emphasis on materials and fabrication problems. Pertinent experience with fuel elements, tube header sheets, electric heaters, and pressure vessels is cited to highlight key limitations that have been encountered in structurally similar equipment. A reference design is presented to indicate how one might attempt to satisfy all of the many boundary conditions. The study indicates that it will be difficult to get a reactor core power density greater than about 35 w/cm 3 and that, while it is possible to minimize the ill effects of failures within individual cells by employing series-parallel connections, the study further indicates that there is inherently a high probability of leaks and electrical shorts and arcs within the reactor so that it is doubtful that good reliability can be obtained

Contributions to the study of fast neutron spectrum in the 10 keV - 3 MeV range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garlea, I.

1979-01-01

The main objective of the work presented in this thesis was to create a fast neutron spectrum corresponding to the conditions required for a reference neutron field. The reference system for the fast neutron dosimetry in reactors, which the author promoted, is referred to as ΣΣ-ITN in the books. The conditions for introducing the ΣΣ systems into the thermal columns have been determined. The original contribution consists in determining the Westcott parameters of reactions 151 Eu(n,γ) 152 Eu and 176 Lu(n,γ) 17 +H7Lu used as thermal spectrum factors. The neutron description of the spectrum in cavity ΣΣ revealed that it is a Maxwell thermal spectrum displaying a temperature of 305+-7 deg C and a very small epithermal component (phisub(epi)/phisub(thermal) =4,5.10 -4 ). Better methods for determining reaction absolute rates resulted in less errors in calculating the microscopic integral sections mediated on the ΣΣ spectrum; there are under 5% errors for the fission cross sections and between 3% and 8% errors for the activating ones. The section values determined by the author have been included into the EXFOR library (IAEA); they are considered as reference measuremtns for the nuclear data improvement program. Testing the proposed method for the TRIGA on the ΣΣ-INT system proved that the multiple foil method provides correct results for both describing the spectral shape and for obtaining absolute values of the flux. Taking into account that the ΣΣ-ITN spectrum is a rapid one, the proposed method could not be tested within the low energy thermal and epithermal domain. For testing the method on an operational reactor, the core of the VVR-S IFIN reactor was employed. Due to the spectral structure of this reactor, it was possible to test the procedure within the whole energy range. In this view, the 5/10 core channel was selected which is similar to the channel required for measurements in the TRIGA-ROMANIA reactor. The absolute spectrum values are given in

Fast Diffusion to Self-Similarity: Complete Spectrum, Long-Time Asymptotics, and Numerology

Science.gov (United States)

Denzler, Jochen; McCann, Robert J.

2005-03-01

The complete spectrum is determined for the operator on the Sobolev space W1,2ρ(Rn) formed by closing the smooth functions of compact support with respect to the norm Here the Barenblatt profile ρ is the stationary attractor of the rescaled diffusion equation in the fast, supercritical regime m the same diffusion dynamics represent the steepest descent down an entropy E(u) on probability measures with respect to the Wasserstein distance d2. Formally, the operator H=HessρE is the Hessian of this entropy at its minimum ρ, so the spectral gap H≧α:=2-n(1-m) found below suggests the sharp rate of asymptotic convergence: from any centered initial data 0≦u(0,x) ∈ L1(Rn) with second moments. This bound improves various results in the literature, and suggests the conjecture that the self-similar solution u(t,x)=R(t)-nρ(x/R(t)) is always slowest to converge. The higher eigenfunctions which are polynomials with hypergeometric radial parts and the presence of continuous spectrum yield additional insight into the relations between symmetries of Rn and the flow. Thus the rate of convergence can be improved if we are willing to replace the distance to ρ with the distance to its nearest mass-preserving dilation (or still better, affine image). The strange numerology of the spectrum is explained in terms of the number of moments of ρ.

Fast Spectrum Molten Salt Reactor Options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gehin, Jess C [ORNL; Holcomb, David Eugene [ORNL; Flanagan, George F [ORNL; Patton, Bruce W [ORNL; Howard, Rob L [ORNL; Harrison, Thomas J [ORNL

2011-07-01

During 2010, fast-spectrum molten-salt reactors (FS-MSRs) were selected as a transformational reactor concept for light-water reactor (LWR)-derived heavy actinide disposition by the Department of Energy-Nuclear Energy Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC) program and were the subject of a preliminary scoping investigation. Much of the reactor description information presented in this report derives from the preliminary studies performed for the ARC project. This report, however, has a somewhat broader scope-providing a conceptual overview of the characteristics and design options for FS-MSRs. It does not present in-depth evaluation of any FS-MSR particular characteristic, but instead provides an overview of all of the major reactor system technologies and characteristics, including the technology developments since the end of major molten salt reactor (MSR) development efforts in the 1970s. This report first presents a historical overview of the FS-MSR technology and describes the innovative characteristics of an FS-MSR. Next, it provides an overview of possible reactor configurations. The following design features/options and performance considerations are described including: (1) reactor salt options-both chloride and fluoride salts; (2) the impact of changing the carrier salt and actinide concentration on conversion ratio; (3) the conversion ratio; (4) an overview of the fuel salt chemical processing; (5) potential power cycles and hydrogen production options; and (6) overview of the performance characteristics of FS-MSRs, including general comparative metrics with LWRs. The conceptual-level evaluation includes resource sustainability, proliferation resistance, economics, and safety. The report concludes with a description of the work necessary to begin more detailed evaluation of FS-MSRs as a realistic reactor and fuel cycle option.

Analysis of Transmutation Performance in the Fast Spectrum Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zafar, Zafar Iqbal; Kim, Myung Hyun

2015-01-01

Nuclear energy, being the most appealing and nonpolluting source has a big issue left i.e. managing the spent nuclear fuel. There are many technological ideas in the design phase or under construction to come up with this limitation. Among the many strategies to incinerate transuranic isotopes (TRU), fission products (FP), and also produce electricity different types of critical and subcritical reactors are proposed. Two most widely studied subcritical reactor options being Accelerator Driven System and a Fusion Fission Hybrid System. In this study, we compare the amount of TRU burnt in different system spectra. To compare the performance, an identical model of a subcritical reactor is used for all the cases, with driving source taken from the potential candidates. A typical fast reactor spectrum is taken as a reference case. It is then compared with an accelerator driven subcritical reactor (ADSR) and a fusion spectrum i.e. 14.1 MeV mono-energetic neutrons. Both later types of driving sources are under extensive investigation but possess totally different pros and cons. Expected price tags for the latter two options are also very different from one another. We take net amount of TRU burnt as the criterion to judge these systems for their performance and worth. Although there is extensive research in progress to design and develop the accelerator or fusion driven systems with many targets in mind. In the current study it is concluded that the notion of TRU burning with accelerator driven systems as the most efficient and the best option to burn TRU has little base when employed in some real system. Presence of coolant and other necessary materials in the core cannot be eliminated

Analysis of Transmutation Performance in the Fast Spectrum Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zafar, Zafar Iqbal; Kim, Myung Hyun [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Nuclear energy, being the most appealing and nonpolluting source has a big issue left i.e. managing the spent nuclear fuel. There are many technological ideas in the design phase or under construction to come up with this limitation. Among the many strategies to incinerate transuranic isotopes (TRU), fission products (FP), and also produce electricity different types of critical and subcritical reactors are proposed. Two most widely studied subcritical reactor options being Accelerator Driven System and a Fusion Fission Hybrid System. In this study, we compare the amount of TRU burnt in different system spectra. To compare the performance, an identical model of a subcritical reactor is used for all the cases, with driving source taken from the potential candidates. A typical fast reactor spectrum is taken as a reference case. It is then compared with an accelerator driven subcritical reactor (ADSR) and a fusion spectrum i.e. 14.1 MeV mono-energetic neutrons. Both later types of driving sources are under extensive investigation but possess totally different pros and cons. Expected price tags for the latter two options are also very different from one another. We take net amount of TRU burnt as the criterion to judge these systems for their performance and worth. Although there is extensive research in progress to design and develop the accelerator or fusion driven systems with many targets in mind. In the current study it is concluded that the notion of TRU burning with accelerator driven systems as the most efficient and the best option to burn TRU has little base when employed in some real system. Presence of coolant and other necessary materials in the core cannot be eliminated.

Isotopic Thermionic Generator; Generateur thermoionique isotopique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clemot, M; Devin, B; Durand, J P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1967-07-01

This report describes the general design of a thermionic direct conversion space generator. The power source used is a radioisotope. Two radioisotopes are considered: Pu 238 and Cm 244. The system is made up of a heat pipe concentrating the thermal flux from the isotope to the emitter, and of a second heat pipe evacuating the waste heat from the collector to the outer wall used as radiating panel. Calculations are given in the particular case of a 100 electrical watts output power. (authors) [French] Ce rapport decrit la structure d'un generateur spatial d'electricite a conversion directe du type thermoionique. La source d'energie est un radioisotope. Deux isotopes sont envisages: le Pu 238 et le Cm 244. Le systeme comporte pour l'emetteur un caloduc concentreur de flux thermique et pour le collecteur, un caloduc evacuateur vers l'enveloppe du generateur utilise, en panneau rayonnant. Les calculs ont ete conduits dans le cas particulier d'une puissance convertie de 100 watts electriques. (auteurs)

Thermionic detection of the ionic fragments of continiuum-state pair absorption systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hotop, R.; Niemax, K.; Richter, J.; Weber, K.H.

1981-01-01

Using a thermionic diode we have detected the ionic fragments formed by associative ionization and dissociation after continuum-state pair absorption processes in Cs-Cs and Cs-K systems. Assuming an ionization probability of unity of the excited species and calibrating the pair absorption bands by taking into account the known photoionization cross section of the atoms we found excellent agreement with data from classical absorption measurements. (orig.)

Study of a neutronic potential of a modular fast spectrum ADS for radiotoxic waste transmutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slessarev, I.; Arkhipov, V.

1999-01-01

transmutation are the principal criteria for ADS development in nuclear power (NP). It is known that fast spectrum ADS have promising parameters to be used for this goal. However, there is no international consensus yet and many innovative ADS concepts are contradictory. The principal goals have been to evaluate a maximum rate of waste transmutation in a fast spectrum ADS, to assess minimum TRU and MA Specific Fuel Inventory (SFI) and 'critical mass' corresponding to a given K eff , and to evaluate the sensitivity of fast spectrum ADS neutron balance to the external neutron spectrum (this is one of specific features of ADS). This parameter is correlated with the neutron source importance, which in turn affects the accelerator current demand and, hence, the ADS economics

Using Multispectral Imaging to Measure Temperature Profiles and Emissivity of Large Thermionic Dispenser, Cathodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simmons, D.F.; Fortgang, C.M.; Holtkamp, D.B.

2001-01-01

Thermionic dispenser cathodes are widely used in modern high-power microwave tubes. Use of these cathodes has led to significant improvement in performance. In recent years these cathodes have been used in electron linear accelerators (LINACs), particularly in induction LINACs, such as the Experimental Test Accelerator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Relativistic Test Accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For induction LINACs, the thermionic dispenser cathode provides greater reproducibility, longer pulse lengths, and lower emittance beams than does a field emission cathode. Los Alamos National Laboratory is fabricating a dual-axis X-ray radiography machine called dual-axis radiograph hydrodynamic test (DARHT). The second axis of DARHT consists of a 2-kA, 20-MeV induction LINAC that uses a 3.2-MeV electron gun with a tungsten thermionic-dispenser cathode. Typically the DARHT cathode current density is 10 A/cm 2 at 1050 C. Under these conditions current density is space-charge limited, which is desirable since current density is independent of temperature. At lower temperature (the temperature-limited regime) there are variations in the local current density due to a nonuniform temperature profile. To obtain the desired uniform current density associated with space-charge limited operation, the coolest area on the cathode must be at a sufficiently high temperature so that the emission is space-charge limited. Consequently, the rest of the cathode is emitting at the same space-charge-limited current density but is at a higher temperature than necessary. Because cathode lifetime is such a strong function of cathode temperature, there is a severe penalty for nonuniformity in the cathode temperature. For example, a temperature increase of 50 C means cathode lifetime will decrease by a factor of at least four. Therefore, we are motivated to measure the temperature profiles of our large-area cathodes

Simulations of thermionic suppression during tungsten transient melting experiments.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komm, Michael; Tolias, P.; Ratynskaia, S.; Dejarnac, Renaud; Gunn, J. P.; Krieger, K.; Podolník, Aleš; Pitts, R.A.; Pánek, Radomír

T170, December (2017), č. článku 014069. ISSN 0031-8949. [PFMC 2017: 16th International Conference on Plasma-Facing Materials and Components for Fusion Applications. Düsseldorf, 16.05.2017-19.05.2017] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-14228S; GA MŠk(CZ) 8D15001 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 633053 - EUROfusion Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : tokamak * thermionic emission * tungsten * melt * plasma-facing component Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: 1.3 Physical sciences Impact factor: 1.280, year: 2016 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/aa9209

Design and operation of a thermionic converter in air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horner, M.H.; Begg, L.L.; Smith, J.N. Jr.; Geller, C.B.; Kallnowski, J.E.

1995-01-01

An electrically heated thermionic converter has been designed, built and successfully tested in air. Several unique features were incorporated in this converter: an integral cesium reservoir, innovative ceramic-to-metal seals, a heat rejection system coupling the collector to a low temperature heat sink and an innovative cylindrical heater filament. The converter was operated for extended periods of time with the emitter at about 1900 K. the collector at about 700 K, and a power density of over 2 w(e)/sq. cm. Input power transients were run between 50% and 100% thermal power, at up to 1% per second, without instabilities in performance

Multi-channel pulser for the SLC thermionic electron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Browne, M.J.; Clendenin, J.E.; Corredoura, P.L.; Jobe, R.K.; Koontz, R.F.; Sodja, J.

1985-01-01

A new pulser developed for the SLC thermionic gun has been operational since September 1984. It consists of two planar triode amplifiers with a common output triode driving the gun cathode to produce two independent pulses of up to 9A with a 3 nsec FWHM pulse width. Three long-pulse amplifiers are also connected to the cathode to produce pulses with widths controllable between 100 nsec and 1.6 μsec. Each amplifier has independent timing and amplitude control through a fiber optic link to the high voltage plane of the gun cathode-grid structure. The pulser and its operating characteristics are described. 15 refs., 3 figs

Synthesis, thermionic emission and magnetic properties of (NdxGd1–x)B6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao Li-Hong; Zhang Jiu-Xing; Zhou Shen-Lin; Tegus

2011-01-01

Polycrystalline rare-earth hexaborides (Nd x Gd 1–x )B 6 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 1) were prepared by the reactive spark plasma sintering (SPS) method using mixed powder of GdH 2 , NdH 2 and B. The effects of Nd doping on the crystal structure, the grain orientation, the thermionic emission and the magnetic properties of the hexaboride were investigated by X-ray diffraction, electron backscattered diffraction and magnetic measurements. It is found that all the samples sintered by the SPS method exhibit high densities (> 95%) and high values of Vickers hardness (2319 kg/mm 2 ). The values are much higher than those obtained in the traditional method. With the increase of Nd content, the thermionic emission current density increases from 11 to 16.30 A/cm 2 and the magnetic phase transition temperature increases from 5.85 to 7.95 K. Thus, the SPS technique is a suitable method to synthesize the dense rare-earth hexaborides with excellent properties. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

SPECTRUM WEIGHTED RESPONSES OF SEVERAL DETECTORS IN MIXED FIELDS OF FAST AND THERMAL NEUTRONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SANG IN KIM

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The spectrum weighted responses of various detectors were calculated to provide guidance on the proper selection and use of survey instruments on the basis of their energy response characteristics on the neutron fields. To yield the spectrum weighted response, the detector response functions of 17 neutron-measuring devices were numerically folded with each of the produced calibration neutron spectra through the in-house developed software ‘K-SWR’. The detectors’ response functions were taken from the IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 403 (TRS-403. The reference neutron fields of 21 kinds with 2 spectra groups with different proportions of thermal and fast neutrons have been produced using neutrons from the 241Am-Be sources held in a graphite pile, a bare 241Am-Be source, and a DT neutron generator. Fluence-average energy (Eave varied from 3.8 MeV to 16.9 MeV, and the ambient-dose-equivalent rate [H*(10/h] varied from 0.99 to 16.5 mSv/h.

FAST: An advanced code system for fast reactor transient analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikityuk, Konstantin; Pelloni, Sandro; Coddington, Paul; Bubelis, Evaldas; Chawla, Rakesh

2005-01-01

One of the main goals of the FAST project at PSI is to establish a unique analytical code capability for the core and safety analysis of advanced critical (and sub-critical) fast-spectrum systems for a wide range of different coolants. Both static and transient core physics, as well as the behaviour and safety of the power plant as a whole, are studied. The paper discusses the structure of the code system, including the organisation of the interfaces and data exchange. Examples of validation and application of the individual programs, as well as of the complete code system, are provided using studies carried out within the context of designs for experimental accelerator-driven, fast-spectrum systems

Integral test on activation cross section of tag gas nuclides using fast neutron spectrum fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aoyama, Takafumi; Suzuki, Soju [Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Engineering Center

1997-03-01

Activation cross sections of tag gas nuclides, which will be used for the failed fuel detection and location in FBR plants, were evaluated by the irradiation tests in the fast neutron spectrum fields in JOYO and YAYOI. The comparison of their measured radioactivities and the calculated values using the JENDL-3.2 cross section set showed that the C/E values ranged from 0.8 to 2.8 for the calibration tests in YAYOI and that the present accuracies of these cross sections were confirmed. (author)

Reducing Energy Degradation Due to Back-bombardment Effect with Modulated RF Input in S-band Thermionic RF Gun

Science.gov (United States)

Kii, Toshiteru; Nakai, Yoko; Fukui, Toshio; Zen, Heishun; Kusukame, Kohichi; Okawachi, Norihito; Nakano, Masatsugu; Masuda, Kai; Ohgaki, Hideaki; Yoshikawa, Kiyoshi; Yamazaki, Tetsuo

2007-01-01

Energy degradation due to back-bombardment effect is quite serious to produce high-brightness electron beam with long macro-pulse with thermionic rf gun. To avoid the back-bombardment problem, a laser photo cathode is used at many FEL facilities, but usually it costs high and not easy to operate. Thus we have studied long pulse operation of the rf gun with thermionic cathode, which is inexpensive and easy to operate compared to the photocathode rf gun. In this work, to reduce the energy degradation, we controlled input rf power amplitude by controlling pulse forming network of the power modulator for klystron. We have successfully increased the pulse duration up to 4 μs by increasing the rf power from 7.8 MW to 8.5 MW during the macro pulse.

The effect of samarium doping on structure and enhanced thermionic emission properties of lanthanum hexaboride fabricated by spark plasma sintering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Shenlin; Hu, Qianglin [College of Mathematics and Physics, Jinggangshan University, Jian (China); Zhang, Jiuxing; Liu, Danmin [Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing (China); Huang, Qingzhen [NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, MD (United States)

2014-03-15

Single-phase polycrystalline solid solutions (La{sub 1-x}Sm{sub x})B{sub 6} (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1) are fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). This study demonstrates a systematic investigation of structure-property relationships in Sm-doped LaB{sub 6} ternary rare-earth hexaborides. The microstructure, crystallographic orientation, electrical resistivity, and thermionic emission performance of these compounds are investigated. Analysis of the results indicates that samarium (Sm) doping has a noticeable effect on the structure and performance of lanthanum hexaboride (LaB{sub 6}). The analytical investigation of the electron backscatter diffraction confirms that (La{sub 0.6}Sm{sub 0.4})B{sub 6} exhibits a clear (001) texture that results in a low work function. Work functions are determined by pulsed thermionic diode measurements at 1500-1873 K. The (La{sub 0.6}Sm{sub 0.4})B{sub 6} possesses improved thermionic emission properties compared to LaB{sub 6}. The current density of (La{sub 0.6}Sm{sub 0.4})B{sub 6} is 42.4 A cm{sup -2} at 1873 K, which is 17.5% larger than that of LaB{sub 6}. The values of Φ{sub R} for (La{sub 0.6}Sm{sub 0.4})B{sub 6} and LaB{sub 6} are 1.98 ± 0.03 and 1.67 ± 0.03 eV, respectively. Furthermore, the Sm substitution of lanthanum (La) effectively increases the electrical resistivity. These results reveal that Sm doping lead to significantly enhanced thermionic emission properties of LaB{sub 6}. The compound (La{sub 0.6}Sm{sub 0.4})B{sub 6} appears most promising as a future emitter material. (copyright 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Spectroscopic interpretation and velocimetry analysis of fluctuations in a cylindrical plasma recorded by a fast camera

Science.gov (United States)

Oldenbürger, S.; Brandt, C.; Brochard, F.; Lemoine, N.; Bonhomme, G.

2010-06-01

Fast visible imaging is used on a cylindrical magnetized argon plasma produced by thermionic discharge in the Mirabelle device. To link the information collected with the camera to a physical quantity, fast camera movies of plasma structures are compared to Langmuir probe measurements. High correlation is found between light fluctuations and plasma density fluctuations. Contributions from neutral argon and ionized argon to the overall light intensity are separated by using interference filters and a light intensifier. Light emitting transitions are shown to involve a metastable neutral argon state that can be excited by thermal plasma electrons, thus explaining the good correlation between light and density fluctuations. The propagation velocity of plasma structures is calculated by adapting velocimetry methods to the fast camera movies. The resulting estimates of instantaneous propagation velocity are in agreement with former experiments. The computation of mean velocities is discussed.

Spectroscopic interpretation and velocimetry analysis of fluctuations in a cylindrical plasma recorded by a fast camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oldenbuerger, S.; Brandt, C.; Brochard, F.; Lemoine, N.; Bonhomme, G.

2010-01-01

Fast visible imaging is used on a cylindrical magnetized argon plasma produced by thermionic discharge in the Mirabelle device. To link the information collected with the camera to a physical quantity, fast camera movies of plasma structures are compared to Langmuir probe measurements. High correlation is found between light fluctuations and plasma density fluctuations. Contributions from neutral argon and ionized argon to the overall light intensity are separated by using interference filters and a light intensifier. Light emitting transitions are shown to involve a metastable neutral argon state that can be excited by thermal plasma electrons, thus explaining the good correlation between light and density fluctuations. The propagation velocity of plasma structures is calculated by adapting velocimetry methods to the fast camera movies. The resulting estimates of instantaneous propagation velocity are in agreement with former experiments. The computation of mean velocities is discussed.

Design, construction and measurements of an alpha magnet as a solution for compact bunch compressor for the electron beam from Thermionic RF Gun

Science.gov (United States)

Rajabi, A.; Jazini, J.; Fathi, M.; Sharifian, M.; Shokri, B.

2018-03-01

The beam produced by a thermionic RF gun has wide energy spread that makes it unsuitable for direct usage in photon sources. Here in the present work, we optimize the extracted beam from a thermionic RF gun by a compact economical bunch compressor. A compact magnetic bunch compressor (Alpha magnet) is designed and constructed. A comparison between simulation results and experimental measurements shows acceptable conformity. The beam dynamics simulation results show a reduction of the energy spread as well as a compression of length less than 1 ps with 2.3 mm-mrad emittance.

Injection of holes at indium tin oxide/dendrimer interface: An explanation with new theory of thermionic emission at metal/organic interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Yingquan; Lu Feiping

2006-01-01

The traditional theory of thermionic emission at metal/inorganic crystalline semiconductor interfaces is no longer applicable for the interface between a metal and an organic semiconductor. Under the assumption of thermalization of hot carriers in the organic semiconductor near the interface, a theory for thermionic emission of charge carriers at metal/organic semiconductor interfaces is developed. This theory is used to explain the experimental result from Samuel group [J.P.J. Markham, D.W. Samuel, S.-C. Lo, P.L. Burn, M. Weiter, H. Baessler, J. Appl. Phys. 95 (2004) 438] for the injection of holes from indium tin oxide into the dendrimer based on fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl) iridium(III)

Transient Safety Analysis of Fast Spectrum TRU Burning LWRs with Internal Blankets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Downar, Thomas [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Zazimi, Mujid [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Hill, Bob [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-01-31

The objective of this proposal was to perform a detailed transient safety analysis of the Resource-Renewable BWR (RBWR) core designs using the U.S. NRC TRACE/PARCS code system. This project involved the same joint team that has performed the RBWR design evaluation for EPRI and therefore be able to leverage that previous work. And because of their extensive experience with fast spectrum reactors and parfait core designs, ANL was also part the project team. The principal outcome of this project was the development of a state-of-the-art transient analysis capability for GEN-IV reactors based on Monte Carlo generated cross sections and the US NRC coupled code system TRACE/PARCS, and a state-of-the-art coupled code assessment of the transient safety performance of the RBWR.

Enhanced Thermionic Emission and Low 1/f Noise in Exfoliated Graphene/GaN Schottky Barrier Diode.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Ashutosh; Kashid, Ranjit; Ghosh, Arindam; Kumar, Vikram; Singh, Rajendra

2016-03-01

Temperature-dependent electrical transport characteristics of exfoliated graphene/GaN Schottky diodes are investigated and compared with conventional Ni/GaN Schottky diodes. The ideality factor of graphene/GaN and Ni/GaN diodes are measured to be 1.33 and 1.51, respectively, which is suggestive of comparatively higher thermionic emission current in graphene/GaN diode. The barrier height values for graphene/GaN diode obtained using thermionic emission model and Richardson plots are found to be 0.60 and 0.72 eV, respectively, which are higher than predicted barrier height ∼0.40 eV as per the Schottky-Mott model. The higher barrier height is attributed to hole doping of graphene due to graphene-Au interaction which shifts the Fermi level in graphene by ∼0.3 eV. The magnitude of flicker noise of graphene/GaN Schottky diode increases up to 175 K followed by its decrease at higher temperatures. This indicates that diffusion currents and barrier inhomogeneities dominate the electronic transport at lower and higher temperatures, respectively. The exfoliated graphene/GaN diode is found to have lower level of barrier inhomogeneities than conventional Ni/GaN diode, as well as earlier reported graphene/GaN diode fabricated using chemical vapor deposited graphene. The lesser barrier inhomogeneities in graphene/GaN diode results in lower flicker noise by 2 orders of magnitude as compared to Ni/GaN diode. Enhanced thermionic emission current, lower level of inhomogeneities, and reduced flicker noise suggests that graphene-GaN Schottky diodes may have the underlying trend for replacing metal-GaN Schottky diodes.

Evaluation of precision in measurements of uranium isotope ratio by thermionic mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moraes, N.M.P. de; Rodrigues, C.

1977-01-01

The parameters which affect the precision and accuracy of uranium isotopic ratios measurements by thermionic mass spectrometry are discussed. A statistical designed program for the analysis of the internal and external variances are presented. It was done an application of this statistical methods, in order to get mass discrimination factor, and its standard mean deviation, by using some results already published for 235 U/ 238 U ratio in NBS uranium samples, and natural uranium [pt

Analysis of thermionic DC electron gun for 125 MeV linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanno, K.; Sato, Isamu; Sato, K.

2000-01-01

The beam trace calculation for the 100 kV thermionic DC electron gun with EIMAC 646E cathode, which is currently used for the 125 MeV linac at Nihon University, has been performed using EGUN code. The result showed a strong focus of the beam at the exit of the anode. A better geometry of the gun has been investigated by varying the shape of the wehnelt electrode. Also the trace calculation has been performed for the case of EIMAC 646B, which showed a considerably small emittance compared with that estimated for the present gun. (author)

Analysis of thermionic DC electron gun for 125 MeV linac

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanno, K. [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nihon Univ., Funabashi, Chiba (Japan); Sato, Isamu; Sato, K. [Nihon Univ., Funabashi, Chiba (Japan). Atomic Energy Research Inst] [and others

2000-07-01

The beam trace calculation for the 100 kV thermionic DC electron gun with EIMAC 646E cathode, which is currently used for the 125 MeV linac at Nihon University, has been performed using EGUN code. The result showed a strong focus of the beam at the exit of the anode. A better geometry of the gun has been investigated by varying the shape of the wehnelt electrode. Also the trace calculation has been performed for the case of EIMAC 646B, which showed a considerably small emittance compared with that estimated for the present gun. (author)

Particle Simulations of a Thermionic RF Gun with Gridded Triode Structure for Reduction of Back-Bombardment

CERN Document Server

Kusukame, K; Kii, T; Masuda, K; Nakai, Y; Ohgaki, H; Yamazaki, T; Yoshikawa, K; Zen, H

2005-01-01

Thermionic RF guns show advantageous features compared with photocathode ones such as easy operation and much higher repetition rate of micropulses, both of which are suitable for their application to high average power FELs. They however suffer from the back-bombardment effect [1], i.e., in conventional RF guns, electrons are extracted from cathode also in the latter half of accelerating phase and tend to back-stream to hit the cathode, and as a result the macropulse duration is limited down to severalμsec Against this adverse effect in thermionic RF guns, introduction of the triode structure has been proposed [2], where the accelerating phase and amplitude nearby the cathode can be controlled regardless of the phase of the first accelerating cell in the conventional RF gun. Our one-dimensional particle simulation results predict that the back-bombardment power can be reduced by 99 % only with 30-40 kW RF power fed to the grid in the present triode structure with an optimal phase difference from th...

Performance review of thermionic electron gun developed for RF linear accelerators at RRCAT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wanmode, Yashwant; Mulchandani, J.; Reddy, T.S.; Bhisikar, A.; Singh, H.G.; Shrivastava, Purushottam

2015-01-01

RRCAT is engaged in development of RF electron linear accelerator for irradiation of industrial and agricultural products. Thermionic electron gun is primary source for this accelerator as beam current in the RF accelerator is modest and thermionic emission is most prevalent option for electron gun development. An electron gun has to meet high cathode emission capability, low filament power, good accessibility for cathode replacement and should provide short time for maintenance. Electron linear accelerator up to beam energy of 10 MeV require electron source of 45-50 keV beam energy and emission current of 1 A. Electron optics of gun and electron beam profile simulations were carried out using CST's particle tracking code and EGUN code. Triode type electron gun of cathode voltage 50 kV pulsed has been designed, developed and integrated with 10 MeV electron linear accelerators at RRCAT. Beam current of more than 600 mA has been measured with faraday cup in the test stand developed for characterizing the electron gun. Two accelerators one is imported and another one developed indigenously has been energized using this electron gun. Beam energy of 5-10 MeV has been achieved with beam current of 250-400 mA by integrating this electron gun with the linear accelerator. This paper reviews the performance of indigenously developed electron gun for both linear accelerators. (author)

Design and implementation of a fs-resolved transmission electron microscope based on thermionic gun technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piazza, L., E-mail: luca.piazza@epfl.ch [Laboratory for Ultrafast Microscopy and Electron Scattering (LUMES), ICMP, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Masiel, D.J. [Integrated Dynamic Electron Solutions, Inc., 455 Bolero Drive, Danville, CA 94526 (United States); LaGrange, T.; Reed, B.W. [Condensed Matter and Materials Division Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-356, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Barwick, B. [Department of Physics, Trinity College, 300 Summit St., Hartford, CT 06106 (United States); Carbone, Fabrizio [Laboratory for Ultrafast Microscopy and Electron Scattering (LUMES), ICMP, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2013-09-23

Highlights: • We present the implementation of a femtosecond-resolved ultrafast TEM. • This is the first ultrafast TEM based on a thermionic gun geometry. • An additional condenser lens has been used to maximize the electron count. • We achieved a time resolution of about 300 fs and an energy resolution of 1 eV. - Abstract: In this paper, the design and implementation of a femtosecond-resolved ultrafast transmission electron microscope is presented, based on a thermionic gun geometry. Utilizing an additional magnetic lens between the electron acceleration and the nominal condenser lens system, a larger percentage of the electrons created at the cathode are delivered to the specimen without degrading temporal, spatial and energy resolution significantly, while at the same time maintaining the femtosecond temporal resolution. Using the photon-induced near field electron microscopy effect (PINEM) on silver nanowires the cross-correlation between the light and electron pulses was measured, showing the impact of the gun settings and initiating laser pulse duration on the electron bunch properties. Tuneable electron pulses between 300 fs and several ps can be obtained, and an overall energy resolution around 1 eV was achieved.

High Charge PHIN Photo Injector at CERN with Fast Phase switching within the Bunch Train for Beam Combination

CERN Document Server

Csatari Divall, M; Bolzon, B; Bravin, E; Chevallay, E; Dabrowski, A; Doebert, S; Drozdy, A; Fedosseev, V; Hessler, C; Lefevre, T; Livesley, S; Losito, R; Olvegaard, M; Petrarca, M; Rabiller, A N; Egger, D; Mete, O

2011-01-01

The high charge PHIN photo-injector was developed within the framework of the European CARE program to provide an alternative to the drive beam thermionic gun in the CTF3 (CLIC Test Facility) at CERN. In PHIN 1908 electron bunches are delivered with bunch spacing of 1.5 GHz and 2.33 nC charge per bunch. Furthermore the drive beam generated by CTF3 requires several fast 180 deg phase-shifts with respect to the 1.5 GHz bunch repetition frequency in order to allow the beam combination scheme developed at CTF3. A total of 8 subtrains, each 140 ns long and shifted in phase with respect to each other, have to be produced with very high phase and amplitude stability. A novel fiber modulator based phase-switching technique developed on the laser system provides this phase-shift between two consecutive pulses much faster and cleaner than the base line scheme, where a thermionic electron gun and sub-harmonic bunching are used. The paper describes the fiber-based switching system and the measurements verifying the schem...

Development of a thermionic magnicon amplifier at 11.4 GHz. Technical progress report, 16 May 1994--31 December 1995

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gold, S.H.; Fliflet, A.W.; Manheimer, W.M.

1995-01-01

This is a progress report on a four-year research program entitled 'Development of a Thermionic Magnicon Amplifier at 11.4 GHz', which is under way in the Plasma Physics Division of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) under Interagency Agreement DE-AI02-94ER40681. This report covers the period 16 May 1994 through 31 December 1995. The magnicon is an advanced microwave tube with potential application to future high gradient linear accelerators such as TeV colliders. Under this program, NRL plans to build and test a thermionic magnicon amplifier tube powered by a 500 kV, 200 A, 10 Hz modulator with a 1 μsec pulse. However, the experiments that were carried out during the period covered by this report were driven by a single-shot Marx generator, and the electron beam was produced from a graphite plasma cathode

Development of a high temperature solar receiver for high-efficient thermionic conversion systems; Fukugo netsuden henkan system yo chokoon taiyo junetsuki no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Umeoka, T; Naito, H; Yugami, H; Arashi, H [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1996-10-27

For thermionic conversion systems (TIC) using concentrated sunlight as heat source, the newly developed solar receiver was tested. Concentrated sunlight aims at the inner surface of the cavity type solar receiver. The emitter of TIC installed in the rear of the solar receiver is uniformly heated over 1700K by thermal radiation from the rear of the solar receiver, emitting thermion. Electric power is generated by collecting the thermion by collector. Mo is used as emitter material, however, because of poor heat absorption of Mo, high-absorptive TiC is used for heat absorption surface to heat Mo by thermal conduction from high-temperature TiC. Functionally gradient material (FGM) with an intermediate layer of gradient TiC/Mo ratios between TiC and Mo is used as emitter material. The emitter is thus uniformly heated at high temperatures of 1723{plus_minus}12K. As a result, the developed solar receiver is applicable to heat the emitter of TIC. Heat flux measurement at the graphite cavity clarified that cavity temperature of as high as 1780K and heat flow of 50W/cm{sup 2} are obtained at 4.7kW in input. 6 figs.

Effects of space-dependent cross sections on core physics parameters for compact fast spectrum space power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lell, R.M.; Hanan, N.A.

1987-01-01

Effects of multigroup neutron cross section generation procedures on core physics parameters for compact fast spectrum reactors have been examined. Homogeneous and space-dependent multigroup cross section sets were generated in 11 and 27 groups for a representative fast reactor core. These cross sections were used to compute various reactor physics parameters for the reference core. Coarse group structure and neglect of space-dependence in the generation procedure resulted in inaccurate computations of reactor flux and power distributions and in significant errors regarding estimates of core reactivity and control system worth. Delayed neutron fraction was insensitive to cross section treatment, and computed reactivity coefficients were only slightly sensitive. However, neutron lifetime was found to be very sensitive to cross section treatment. Deficiencies in multigroup cross sections are reflected in core nuclear design and, consequently, in system mechanical design

High-efficiency AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs cathode for photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar energy converters

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Cheng; Zhang, Yijun; Qian, Yunsheng; Wang, Ziheng; Liu, Jian; Chang, Benkang; Shi, Feng; Jiao, Gangcheng

2018-04-01

A theoretical emission model for AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs cathode with complex structure based on photon-enhanced thermionic emission is developed by utilizing one-dimensional steady-state continuity equations. The cathode structure comprises a graded-composition AlxGa1-xAs window layer and an exponential-doping GaAs absorber layer. In the deduced model, the physical properties changing with the Al composition are taken into consideration. Simulated current-voltage characteristics are presented and some important factors affecting the conversion efficiency are also illustrated. Compared with the graded-composition and uniform-doping cathode structure, and the uniform-composition and uniform-doping cathode structure, the graded-composition and exponential-doping cathode structure can effectively improve the conversion efficiency, which is ascribed to the twofold built-in electric fields. More strikingly, this graded bandgap structure is especially suitable for photon-enhanced thermionic emission devices since a higher conversion efficiency can be achieved at a lower temperature.

Hybrid spread spectrum radio system

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stephen F [London, TN; Dress, William B [Camas, WA

2010-02-09

Systems and methods are described for hybrid spread spectrum radio systems. A method, includes receiving a hybrid spread spectrum signal including: fast frequency hopping demodulating and direct sequence demodulating a direct sequence spread spectrum signal, wherein multiple frequency hops occur within a single data-bit time and each bit is represented by chip transmissions at multiple frequencies.

Design study of a low-emittance high-repetition rate thermionic rf gun

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Opanasenko

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We propose a novel gridless continuous-wave radiofrequency (rf thermionic gun capable of generating nC ns electron bunches with a rms normalized slice emittance close to the thermal level of 0.3 mm mrad. In order to gate the electron emission, an externally heated thermionic cathode is installed into a stripline-loop conductor. Two high-voltage pulses propagating towards each other in the stripline-loop overlap in the cathode region and create a quasielectrostatic field gating the electron emission. The repetition rate of pulses is variable and can reach up to one MHz with modern solid-state pulsers. The stripline attached to a rf gun cavity wall has with the wall a common aperture that allows the electrons to be injected into the rf cavity for further acceleration. Thanks to this innovative gridless design, simulations suggest that the bunch emittance is approximately at the thermal level after the bunch injection into the cavity provided that the geometry of the cathode and aperture are properly designed. Specifically, a concave cathode is adopted to imprint an Ƨ-shaped distribution onto the beam transverse phase-space to compensate for an S-shaped beam distribution created by the spherical aberration of the aperture-cavity region. In order to compensate for the energy spread caused by rf fields of the rf gun cavity, a 3rd harmonic cavity is used. A detailed study of the electrodynamics of the stripline and rf gun cavity as well as the beam optics and bunch dynamics are presented.

The design of a 3 GHz thermionic RF-gun and energy filter for MAX-lab

CERN Document Server

Anderberg, B; Demirkan, M; Eriksson, M; Malmgren, L; Werin, S

2002-01-01

A new pre-injector has been designed for the MAX-laboratory. It consists of an RF-gun and a magnetic energy filter. The newly designed RF-gun geometry will be operated at 3 GHz in the thermionic mode using a BaO cathode. The pre-injector will provide a 2.3 MeV electron beam in 3 ps micro pulses to a new injector system currently under construction.

Model Atmosphere Spectrum Fit to the Soft X-Ray Outburst Spectrum of SS Cyg

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Suleimanov

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The X-ray spectrum of SS Cyg in outburst has a very soft component that can be interpreted as the fast-rotating optically thick boundary layer on the white dwarf surface. This component was carefully investigated by Mauche (2004 using the Chandra LETG spectrum of this object in outburst. The spectrum shows broad ( ≈5 °A spectral features that have been interpreted as a large number of absorption lines on a blackbody continuum with a temperature of ≈250 kK. Because the spectrum resembles the photospheric spectra of super-soft X-ray sources, we tried to fit it with high gravity hot LTE stellar model atmospheres with solar chemical composition, specially computed for this purpose. We obtained a reasonably good fit to the 60–125 °A spectrum with the following parameters: Teff = 190 kK, log g = 6.2, and NH = 8 · 1019 cm−2, although at shorter wavelengths the observed spectrum has a much higher flux. The reasons for this are discussed. The hypothesis of a fast rotating boundary layer is supported by the derived low surface gravity.

Low work-function thermionic emission and orbital-motion-limited ion collection at bare-tether cathodic contact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Xin, E-mail: xin.chen@upm.es; Sanmartín, J. R., E-mail: juanr.sanmartin@upm.es [Departamento de Física Aplicada, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros, 3, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2015-05-15

With a thin coating of low-work-function material, thermionic emission in the cathodic segment of bare tethers might be much greater than orbital-motion-limited (OML) ion collection current. The space charge of the emitted electrons decreases the electric field that accelerates them outwards, and could even reverse it for high enough emission, producing a potential hollow. In this work, at the conditions of high bias and relatively low emission that make the potential monotonic, an asymptotic analysis is carried out, extending the OML ion-collection analysis to investigate the probe response due to electrons emitted by the negatively biased cylindrical probe. At given emission, the space charge effect from emitted electrons increases with decreasing magnitude of negative probe bias. Although emitted electrons present negligible space charge far away from the probe, their effect cannot be neglected in the global analysis for the sheath structure and two thin layers in between sheath and the quasineutral region. The space-charge-limited condition is located. It is found that thermionic emission increases the range of probe radius for OML validity and is greatly more effective than ion collection for cathodic contact of tethers.

Theoretical studies of thermionic conversion of solar energy with graphene as emitter and collector

Science.gov (United States)

Olawole, Olukunle C.; De, Dilip Kumar

2018-01-01

Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) using nanomaterials is an emerging field of research. It is known that graphene can withstand temperatures as high as 4600 K in vacuum, and it has been shown that its work function can be engineered from a high value (for monolayer/bilayer) of 4.6 eV to as low as 0.7 eV. Such attractive electronic properties (e.g., good electrical conductivity and high dielectric constant) make engineered graphene a good candidate as an emitter and collector in a thermionic energy converter for harnessing solar energy efficiently. We have used a modified Richardson-Dushman equation and have adopted a model where the collector temperature could be controlled through heat extraction in a calculated amount and a magnet can be attached on the back surface of the collector for future control of the space-charge effect. Our work shows that the efficiency of solar energy conversion also depends on power density falling on the emitter surface, and that a power conversion efficiency of graphene-based solar TEC as high as 55% can be easily achieved (in the absence of the space-charge effect) through proper choice of work functions, collector temperature, and emissivity of emitter surfaces. Such solar energy conversion would reduce our dependence on silicon solar panels and offers great potential for future renewable energy utilization.

Analysis of instability growth and collisionless relaxation in thermionic converters using 1-D PIC simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kreh, B.B.

1994-12-01

This work investigates the role that the beam-plasma instability may play in a thermionic converter. The traditional assumption of collisionally dominated relaxation is questioned, and the beam-plasma instability is proposed as a possible dominant relaxation mechanism. Theory is developed to describe the beam-plasma instability in the cold-plasma approximation, and the theory is tested with two common Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulation codes. The theory is first confirmed using an unbounded plasma PIC simulation employing periodic boundary conditions, ES1. The theoretically predicted growth rates are on the order of the plasma frequencies, and ES1 simulations verify these predictions within the order of 1%. For typical conditions encountered in thermionic converters, the resulting growth period is on the order of 7 x 10 -11 seconds. The bounded plasma simulation PDP1 was used to evaluate the influence of finite geometry and the electrode boundaries. For this bounded plasma, a two-stream interaction was supported and resulting in nearly complete thermalization in approximately 5 x 10 -10 seconds. Since the electron-electron collision rate of 10 9 Hz and the electron atom collision rate of 10 7 Hz are significantly slower than the rate of development of these instabilities, the instabilities appear to be an important relaxation mechanism

Charge exchange spectroscopy as a fast ion diagnostic on TEXTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delabie, E.; Jaspers, R. J. E.; Hellermann, M. G. von; Nielsen, S. K.; Marchuk, O.

2008-01-01

An upgraded charge exchange spectroscopy diagnostic has been taken into operation at the TEXTOR tokamak. The angles of the viewing lines with the toroidal magnetic field are close to the pitch angles at birth of fast ions injected by one of the neutral beam injectors. Using another neutral beam for active spectroscopy, injected counter the direction in which fast ions injected by the first beam are circulating, we can simultaneously measure a fast ion tail on the blue wing of the D α spectrum while the beam emission spectrum is Doppler shifted to the red wing. An analysis combining the two parts of the spectrum offers possibilities to improve the accuracy of the absolute (fast) ion density profiles. Fast beam modulation or passive viewing lines cannot be used for background subtraction on this diagnostic setup and therefore the background has to be modeled and fitted to the data together with a spectral model for the slowing down feature. The analysis of the fast ion D α spectrum obtained with the new diagnostic is discussed.

Conceptual engineering design study of thermionic topping of fossil power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-02-15

Primary objectives of this study are to investigate alternative design concepts of thermal coupling of thermionic energy converters (TECs) to the steam cycle and the mechanical and electrical aspects of integrating TEC design into the steam power station. The specific tasks include: (1) evaluate design concepts of TEC topping of solvent refined liquified coal-fired steam power plants, with main emphasis devoted to thermal, mechanical, and electrical design aspects. (2) Develop preliminary conceptual design of a modular TEC assembly. (3) Develop preliminary cost estimates of the design modification to a liquified coal-fired steam power plant with TEC topping. (4) Provide support to Thermo Electron Corporation in planning TEC hardware testing. Results are presented in detail.

Measured and Predicted Variations in Fast Neutron Spectrum in Massive Shields of Water and Concrete

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aalto, E; Sandlin, R; Fraeki, R

1965-09-15

The absolute magnitude, and the variations in form, of the fast neutron spectrum during deep penetration (0.8 - 1.1 metre) in massive shields of water, ordinary and magnetite concrete have been studied by using threshold detectors (In (n, h'), S(n,p), Al(n, {alpha})). The results have been compared with predictions by two rigorous (NIOBE, Moments method) and two non-rigorous (multigroup removal-diffusion) shielding codes (NRN, RASH D). The absolute results predicted were in general within 50% of the measured ones, i. e. showed as good or better accuracy than thermal and epithermal flux predictions in the same small-reactor configurations. No difference in accuracy was found between the rigorous and non-rigorous methods. The changes in the relative form of the spectrum (indicated by variations in the (Al/S) and (In/S) reaction rate ratios and amounting to factors up to 3 - 4 during a one metre penetration in water) were rather accurately (within 10 - 30%) predicted by all of the methods. The photonuclear excitation of the 335 keV level used for detecting the In(n, n') reaction was found to distort completely the In results in water at penetrations > 50 cm.

Nuclear safety considerations in the conceptual design of a fast reactor for space electric power and propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, T.-M.; Koenig, D. R.

1977-01-01

Some nuclear safety aspects of a 3.2 mWt heat pipe cooled fast reactor with out-of-core thermionic converters are discussed. Safety related characteristics of the design including a thin layer of B4C surrounding the core, the use of heat pipes and BeO reflector assembly, the elimination of fuel element bowing, etc., are highlighted. Potential supercriticality hazards and countermeasures are considered. Impacts of some safety guidelines of space transportation system are also briefly discussed, since the currently developing space shuttle would be used as the primary launch vehicle for the nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft.

Progress in radiation immune thermionic integrated circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lynn, D.K.; McCormick, J.B.

1985-08-01

This report describes the results of a program directed at evaluating the thermionic integrated circuit (TIC) technology for applicability to military systems. Previous programs under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, have developed an initial TIC technology base and demonstrated operation in high-temperature and high-radiation environments. The program described in this report has two parts: (1) a technical portion in which experiments and analyses were conducted to refine perceptions of near-term as well as ultimate performance levels of the TIC technology and (2) an applications portion in which the technical conclusions were to be evaluated against potential military applications. This report draws several conclusions that strongly suggest that (1) useful radiation-hard/high-temperature operable integrated circuits can be developed using the TIC technology; (2) because of their ability to survive and operate in hostile environments, a variety of potential military applications have been projected for this technology; and (3) based on the above two conclusions, an aggressive TIC development program should be initiated to provide the designers of future systems with integrated circuits and devices with the unique features of the TICs

Progress in radiation immune thermionic integrated circuits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lynn, D.K.; McCormick, J.B. (comps.)

1985-08-01

This report describes the results of a program directed at evaluating the thermionic integrated circuit (TIC) technology for applicability to military systems. Previous programs under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, have developed an initial TIC technology base and demonstrated operation in high-temperature and high-radiation environments. The program described in this report has two parts: (1) a technical portion in which experiments and analyses were conducted to refine perceptions of near-term as well as ultimate performance levels of the TIC technology and (2) an applications portion in which the technical conclusions were to be evaluated against potential military applications. This report draws several conclusions that strongly suggest that (1) useful radiation-hard/high-temperature operable integrated circuits can be developed using the TIC technology; (2) because of their ability to survive and operate in hostile environments, a variety of potential military applications have been projected for this technology; and (3) based on the above two conclusions, an aggressive TIC development program should be initiated to provide the designers of future systems with integrated circuits and devices with the unique features of the TICs.

Fast simulation of non-linear pulsed ultrasound fields using an angular spectrum approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2013-01-01

A fast non-linear pulsed ultrasound field simulation is presented. It is implemented based on an angular spectrum approach (ASA), which analytically solves the non-linear wave equation. The ASA solution to the Westervelt equation is derived in detail. The calculation speed is significantly...... increased compared to a numerical solution using an operator splitting method (OSM). The ASA has been modified and extended to pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields in combination with Field II, where any array transducer with arbitrary geometry, excitation, focusing and apodization can be simulated...... with a center frequency of 5 MHz. The speed is increased approximately by a factor of 140 and the calculation time is 12 min with a standard PC, when simulating the second harmonic pulse at the focal point. For the second harmonic point spread function the full width error is 1.5% at 6 dB and 6.4% at 12 d...

Energy balance measurements for the determination of physical and technical operation parameters of thermionic converters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritz, K.

1975-01-01

An introduction into the fundamental theoretical principles of the thermionic Cs converter is followed by the set-up of a special measuring converter as proposed by J. Bohdansky which permits the defined setting of the electrode distance under service conditions. Measurements thus carried out present quantitative data on efficiency, on energy transfer between the electrodes by means of radiation and heat transfer, and on the actual collector potential, the latter which surprisingly shows a distance dependency. (orig./GG) [de

Fast Detection Method in Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengyi Li

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Cognitive Radio (CR technology improves the utilization of spectrum highly via opportunistic spectrum sharing, which requests fast detection as the spectrum utilization is dynamic. Taking into consideration the characteristic of wireless channels, we propose a fast detection scheme for a cooperative cognitive radio network, which consists of multiple CRs and a central control office. Specifically, each CR makes individual detection decision using the sequential probability ratio test combined with Neyman Pearson detection with respect to a specific observation window length. The proposed method upper bounds the detection delay. In addition, a weighted K out of N fusion rule is also proposed for the central control office to reach fast global decision based on the information collected from CRs, with more weights assigned for CRs with good channel conditions. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve fast detection while maintaining the detection accuracy.

Responses and mechanisms of positive electron affinity molecules in the N2 mode of the thermionic ionization detector and the electron-capture detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, C.S.

1989-01-01

Very little knowledge has been acquired in the past on the mechanistic pathway by which molecules respond in the N 2 mode of the thermionic ionization detector. An attempt is made here to elucidate the response mechanism of the detector. The basic response mechanisms are known for the electron capture detector, and an attempt is made to identify the certain mechanism by which selected molecules respond. The resonance electron capture rate constant has been believed to be temperature independent, and investigations of the temperature dependence of electron capture responses are presented. Mechanisms for the N 2 mode of the thermionic ionization detector have been proposed by examining the detector response to positive electron affinity molecules and by measurement of the ions produced by the detector. Electron capture mechanisms for selected molecules have been proposed by examining their temperature dependent responses in the electron capture detector and negative ion mass spectra of the samples. In studies of the resonance electron capture rate constant, the relative responses of selected positive electron affinity molecules and their temperature dependent responses were investigated. Positive electron affinity did not guarantee large responses in the N 2 mode thermionic ionization detector. High mass ions were measured following ionization of samples in the detector. Responses in the electron capture detector varied with temperature and electron affinity

Transient and steady-state analyses of an electrically heated Topaz-II Thermionic Fuel Element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Genk, M.S.; Xue, H.

1992-01-01

Transient and steady-state analyses of electrically heated, Thermionic Fuel Elements (TFEs) for Topaz-II space power system are performed. The calculated emitter and collector temperatures, load electric power and conversion efficiency are in good agreement with reported data. In this paper the effects or Cs pressure, thermal power input, and load resistance on the steady-state performance of the TFE are also investigated. In addition, the thermal response of the ZrH moderator during a startup transient and following a change in the thermal power input is examined

Neutron-induced nuclear data for the MYRRHA fast spectrum facility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romojaro Pablo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications concept is a flexible experimental lead-bismuth cooled and mixed-oxide (MOX fueled fast spectrum facility designed to operate both in sub-critical (accelerator driven and critical modes. One of the key issues for the safe operation of the reactor is the uncertainty assessment during the design works. The main objective of the European project CHANDA (solving CHAllenges in Nuclear DAta Work Package 10 is to improve MYRRHA relevant nuclear data in order to reduce the reactor parameter uncertainties derived from them. In order to achieve this goal, several tasks have been undertaken. First, a sensitivity study of MYRRHA integral parameters, such as energy dependent cross sections, fission spectra and neutron multiplicities, to nuclear data has been conducted resulting in a list of MYRRHA relevant quantities (nuclides and reactions. On the second task, an analysis of the existing experimental data and evaluations for the quantities included in the list has been carried out. In this framework, the impact on the multiplication factor of quantities from different nuclear data libraries for different nuclides, reactions and energy regions has been investigated on the MYRRHA MOX critical core model. As the next step, new experiments and evaluations will be performed in order to improve existing nuclear data libraries.

Development and fabrication of insulator seals for thermionic diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, V. L.

1972-01-01

Eight different types of cermet seals for thermionic diodes were investigated: (1) 1 micron Al2O3 with Nb spheres; (2) 200 A Al2O3 with Nb spheres; (3) 1 micron Al2O3 with Nb 1% Zr spheres; (4) 200 A Al2O3 with Nb 1% Zr spheres; (5) Pure Y2O3 with Nb 1% Zr spheres; (6) Y2O3 3% ZrO2 with Nb 1% Zr spheres; (7) Y2O3 10% ZrO2 with Nb 1% Zr spheres; and (8) ZrO2 12% Y2O3 with Nb 1% Zr spheres. Investigations were made to determine the most favorable fabrication techniques and the effect of the bonding cycle, (length of bonding time and shutdown sequences). The analysis of the seals included tensile test, vacuum test, electrical test and metallurgical examination. At the conclusion of the development phase, 36 seals were fabricated for delivery for evaluation.

Adaptability of Brayton cycle conversion systems to fast, epithermal and thermal spectrum space nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tilliette, Z.P.

1988-01-01

The two French Government Agencies C.N.E.S. (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) and C.E.A. (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique) are carrying out joint preliminary studies on space nuclear power systems for future ARIANE 5 launch vehicle applications. The Brayton cycle is the reference conversion system, whether the heat source is a liquid metal-cooled (NaK, Na or Li) reactor or a gas-cooled direct cycle concept. The search for an adequate utilization of this energy conversion means has prompted additional evaluations featuring the definition of satisfactory cycle conditions for these various kinds of reactor concepts. In addition to firstly studied fast and epithermal spectrum ones, thermal spectrum reactors can offer an opportunity of bringing out some distinctive features of the Brayton cycle, in particular for the temperature conditioning of the efficient metal hydrides (ZrH, Li/sub 7/H) moderators. One of the purposes of the paper is to confirm the potential of long lifetime ZrH moderated reactors associated with a gas cycle and to assess the thermodynamical consequences for both Nak(Na)-cooled or gas-cooled nuclear heat sources. This investigation is complemented by the definition of appropriate reactor arrangements which could be presented on a further occasion

Communication: Effects of thermionic-gun parameters on operating modes in ultrafast electron microscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Kieft

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Ultrafast electron microscopes with thermionic guns and LaB6 sources can be operated in both the nanosecond, single-shot and femtosecond, single-electron modes. This has been demonstrated with conventional Wehnelt electrodes and absent any applied bias. Here, by conducting simulations using the General Particle Tracer code, we define the electron-gun parameter space within which various modes may be optimized. The properties of interest include electron collection efficiency, temporal and energy spreads, and effects of laser-pulse duration incident on the LaB6 source. We find that collection efficiencies can reach 100% for all modes, despite there being no bias applied to the electrode.

Comparison between steady-state and dynamic I-V measurements from a single-cell thermionic fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wernsman, Bernard

1997-01-01

A comparison between steady-state and dynamic I-V measurements from a single-cell thermionic fuel element (TFE) is made. The single-cell TFE used in this study is the prototype for the 40 kW e space nuclear power system that is similar to the 6 kW e TOPAZ-II. The steady-state I-V measurements influence the emitter temperature due to electron cooling. Therefore, to eliminate the steady-state I-V measurement influence on the TFE and provide a better understanding of the behavior of the thermionic energy converter and TFE characteristics, dynamic I-V measurements are made. The dynamic I-V measurements are made at various input power levels, cesium pressures, collector temperatures, and steady-state current levels. From these measurements, it is shown that the dynamic I-V's do not change the TFE characteristics at a given operating point. Also, the evaluation of the collector work function from the dynamic I-V measurements shows that the collector optimization is not due to a minimum in the collector work function but due to an emission optimization. Since the dynamic I-V measurements do not influence the TFE characteristics, it is believed that these measurements can be done at a system level to understand the influence of TFE placement in the reactor as a function of the core thermal distribution

Comparison between arc drops in ignited thermionic converters with and without ion reflections at the emitter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundgren, L.

1985-01-01

The output performance of two thermionic energy converters is compared. One converter has a normal emitter, working with zero field at the emitter which is close to the optimum working point, and the other has a low work function emitter and ion reflection at the emitter. A simple model of the plasma and the sheaths shows that a converter working with a low work function emitter and ion reflections gives a worse performance than a similar converter with a normal emitter

Energy distribution of the fast electron from Cu and CH targets irradiated with fs-laser pulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Dafeng; Gu Yuqiu; Zheng Zhijian; Zhou Weimin; Jiao Chunye

2014-01-01

In order to investigate the effect of target's material on fast electron energy distribution, the energy distribution of fast electrons from the front and the rear of Cu and CH targets have been measured during the interaction of femtosecond laser-foil targets. The results show that the fast electron spectrums from the front of Cu and CH targets are similar, which show energy distribution of fast electrons depends very little on material of targets. The fast electron spectrums from the rear of Cu and CH targets are obviously dissimilar, which indicate a mighty effect of target material on fast electron transport. The fast electron spectrums from the Cu target is 'soften', which is due to electron recirculation and self-magnetic field produced by electrons transported in the target. The fast electron spectrums from the CH target is a Maxwellian distribution, which is due to collision effect when electrons transport in the target. (authors)

Fast Variations In Spectrum of Comet Halley

Science.gov (United States)

Borysenko, S. A.

The goal of this work is to research fast variations of spectral lines intensities in spectra of comet Halley. The present research was made on the basis of more then 500 high- resolution spectrogram obtained by L.M. Shulman and H.K. Nazarchuk in November- December, 1985 at the 6-m telescope (SAO, Russia). Some fast variations with different quasiperiods were detected in all the spectrograms. Quasiperiods of these variations were from 15 - 40 min to 1.5 - 2 hours. As data from spacecraft "Vega-2" show, more fast variations with quasiperiods 5 - 10 min are obviously present in cometary time variations. Only the most important lines so as C2, C3, CN, CH and NH2 were analyzed. False periods were checked by comparison of the power spectra of the variations with the computed spectral window of the data. Only false periods about 400 sec (the avarage period of exposition) were detected. An algorithm for analysis of locally Poisson's time series was proposed. Two types of fast variations are detected: 1)high amplitude variations with more long quasiperiods (1.5 - 2 hours) and the coefficient of crosscorrelations between line intensities about 0.9 - 0.95; 2)low amplitude variations with short periods (15 - 40 min), which look like white noise and have the coefficient of crosscorrelations about 0.1 - 0.3. This difference may be caused by nature of variations. The first type variations may be an effect of both active processes in cometary nucleus and streams of solar protons. Analysis of solar proton flux variation with energies >1 MeV in November - Decem- ber 1985 confirms the above-mentioned version. In the second case it may by only inner processes in the nucleus that generate the observed variations. For determination of general parameters of cometary atmosphere, such as the produc- tion rates of radicals C2, C3, CN, CH, and NH2 it was necessary to estimate the contri- bution of dust grains luminiscence into the continuum of the comet. Space and wave- length distribution

High performance emitter for thermionic diode obtained by chemical vapor deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faron, R.; Bargues, M.; Durand, J.P.; Gillardeau, J.

1973-01-01

Vapor deposition process conditions presently known for tungsten and molybdenum (specifically the range of high temperatures and low pressures) permit the achievement of high performance thermionic emitters when used with an appropriate technology. One example of this uses the following series of successive vapor deposits, the five last vapor deposits constituting the fabrication of the emitting layer: Mo deposit for the formation of the nuclear fuel mechanical support; Mo deposit, which constitutes the sheath of the nuclear fuel; epitaxed Mo--W alloy deposit; epitaxed tungsten deposit; fine-grained tungsten deposit; and tungsten deposit with surface orientation according to plane (110)W. In accordance with vapor deposition techniques previously developed, such a sequence of deposits can easily be achieved with the same equipment, even without having to take out the part during the course of the process. (U.S.)

Thermionic RF Gun and Linac Pre-Injector for SPEAR3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, S.

2003-08-11

Preparations are underway to upgrade the Spear2 to the third generation light source. Installation of all the subsystems will start in April 2003. Although the Spear3 RF system is entirely different from the present form, the pre-injector gun/linac and booster synchrotron will remain the same even after the upgrade. The thermionic rf gun reliability and stability are to be improved to inject 500 mA of stored current in shortest possible time. When a top-up mode is enforced, where the stored beam decay is replenished to maintain the constant current and thus constant light intensity, the Spear3 will take injection every few minutes. In that case the gun, linac, and booster must stay on at all times. In this report we will describe some improvements made on the gun and linac in the recent past, as well as their present performance and future upgrade to be made.

Observation of Repetition-Rate Dependent Emission From an Un-Gated Thermionic Cathode Rf Gun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edelen, J. P.; Sun, Y.; Harris, J.R.; Lewellen, J.W.

2017-06-02

Recent work at Fermilab in collaboration with the Advanced Photon Source and members of other national labs, designed an experiment to study the relationship between the RF repetition rate and the average current per RF pulse. While existing models anticipate a direct relationship between these two parameters we observed an inverse relationship. We believe this is a result of damage to the barium coating on the cathode surface caused by a change in back-bombardment power that is unaccounted for in the existing theories. These observations shed new light on the challenges and fundamental limitations associated with scaling an ungated thermionic cathode RF gun to high average current.

X-ray Diffraction Studies of the Structure and Thermochemistry of Alkaline-Earth Oxide-Coated Thermionic Cathodes

Science.gov (United States)

Karikari, E. K.; Bassey, E.; Wintucky, Edwin G.

1998-01-01

NASA LeRC has a broad, active cathode technology development program in which both experimental and theoretical studies are being employed to further development of thermionic cathodes for use as electron sources in vacuum devices for communications and other space applications. One important type of thermionic cathode under development is the alkaline-earth oxide-coated (BaO, SrO, CaO) cathode. Significant improvements in the emission characteristics of this cathode have been obtained through modification of the chemical composition and morphology of the oxide coating, with the best result thus far coming from the addition of In2O3 and Sc2O3. Whereas the In2O3 produces a finer, more uniform particle structure, the exact chemical state and role of the Sc2O3 in the emission enhancement is unknown. The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to combine the studies of the surface chemistry and electron emission at NASA LeRC of chemically modified oxide coatings with a study of the thermochemistry and crystal structure using X-ray diffraction equipment and expertise at Clark Atlanta University (CAU). The study at CAU is intended to provide the description and understanding of the structure and thermochemistry needed for further improvement and optimization of the modified coatings. A description of the experimental procedure, preliminary X-ray diffraction test results, together with the design of an ultrahigh vacuum chamber necessary for high temperature thermochemistry studies will be presented.

Fast and accurate computation of projected two-point functions

Science.gov (United States)

Grasshorn Gebhardt, Henry S.; Jeong, Donghui

2018-01-01

We present the two-point function from the fast and accurate spherical Bessel transformation (2-FAST) algorithm1Our code is available at https://github.com/hsgg/twoFAST. for a fast and accurate computation of integrals involving one or two spherical Bessel functions. These types of integrals occur when projecting the galaxy power spectrum P (k ) onto the configuration space, ξℓν(r ), or spherical harmonic space, Cℓ(χ ,χ'). First, we employ the FFTLog transformation of the power spectrum to divide the calculation into P (k )-dependent coefficients and P (k )-independent integrations of basis functions multiplied by spherical Bessel functions. We find analytical expressions for the latter integrals in terms of special functions, for which recursion provides a fast and accurate evaluation. The algorithm, therefore, circumvents direct integration of highly oscillating spherical Bessel functions.

The influences of noble gas on the volt-ampere characteristics of a thermionic Cs diode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tschersich, K.G.

1975-10-01

The influence of the distance between electrodes and of the partial pressure of added xenon on the voltage drop in the electrode gap is investigated by measuring current density-voltage curves on plane parallel thermionic test diodes. With unchanged diode parameters, an addition of xenon reduces the voltage drop when the product of Cs vapour pressure and electrode gap is smaller than an optimum value of about 5 x 10 -2 cm.Torr. The xenon influences the mobility and thus the duration of the Cs ions. These procedures are explained and discussed using a relatively simple mathematical model. (GG/LH) [de

Experimental investigation of high temperature high voltage thermionic diode for the space power nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onufriyev, Valery V.

2001-01-01

It is well known that the rise of arc from the dense glow discharge is connected with the thermion and secondary processes on the cathode surface (Granovsky, 1971; Leob, 1953; Engel, 1935). First model of breakdown of the cathode layer is connected with the increase of the cathode temperature in consequence of the ion bombardment that leads to the grows its thermo-emissive current. Other model shows the main role of the secondary effects on the cathode surface-the increase of the secondary ion emission coefficient--γ i with the grows of glow discharge voltage. But the author of this investigation work of breakdown in Cs vapor (a transmission the glow discharge into self-maintaining arc discharge) discovered the next peculiarity: the value of breakdown voltage is constant when the values of vapor temperature (its pressure p cs ) and cathode temperature T k is constant too (U b =constant with T k =constant and p cs =constant) and it is not a statistical value (Onufryev, Grishin, 1996) (that was observed in gas glow discharges other authors (Granovsky, 1971; Leob, 1953; Engel, 1935)). The investigations of thermion high voltage high temperature diode (its breakdown characteristics in closed state and voltage-current characteristics in disclosed state) showed that the value of the breakdown voltage is depended on the vapor pressure in inter-electrode gap (IEG)-p cs and cathode temperature-T k and is independent on IEG length--Δ ieg . On this base it was settled that the main role in transition of glow discharge to self-maintaining arc discharge plays an ion cathode layer but more exactly--the region of excited atoms--''Aston glow.''

Experimental investigation of high temperature high voltage thermionic diode for the space power nuclear reactor

Science.gov (United States)

Onufriyev, Valery. V.

2001-02-01

It is well known that the rise of arc from the dense glow discharge is connected with the thermion and secondary processes on the cathode surface (Granovsky, 1971; Leob, 1953; Engel, 1935). First model of breakdown of the cathode layer is connected with the increase of the cathode temperature in consequence of the ion bombardment that leads to the grows its thermo-emissive current. Other model shows the main role of the secondary effects on the cathode surface-the increase of the secondary ion emission coefficient-γi with the grows of glow discharge voltage. But the author of this investigation work of breakdown in Cs vapor (a transmission the glow discharge into self-maintaining arc discharge) discovered the next peculiarity: the value of breakdown voltage is constant when the values of vapor temperature (its pressure pcs) and cathode temperature Tk is constant too (Ub=constant with Tk=constant and pcs=constant) and it is not a statistical value (Onufryev, Grishin, 1996) (that was observed in gas glow discharges other authors (Granovsky, 1971; Leob, 1953; Engel, 1935)). The investigations of thermion high voltage high temperature diode (its breakdown characteristics in closed state and voltage-current characteristics in disclosed state) showed that the value of the breakdown voltage is depended on the vapor pressure in inter-electrode gap (IEG)-pcs and cathode temperature-Tk and is independent on IEG length-Δieg. On this base it was settled that the main role in transition of glow discharge to self-maintaining arc discharge plays an ion cathode layer but more exactly-the region of excited atoms-``Aston glow.'' .

Fast and Accurate Hybrid Stream PCRTMSOLAR Radiative Transfer Model for Reflected Solar Spectrum Simulation in the Cloudy Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qiguang; Liu, Xu; Wu, Wan; Kizer, Susan; Baize, Rosemary R.

2016-01-01

A hybrid stream PCRTM-SOLAR model has been proposed for fast and accurate radiative transfer simulation. It calculates the reflected solar (RS) radiances with a fast coarse way and then, with the help of a pre-saved matrix, transforms the results to obtain the desired high accurate RS spectrum. The methodology has been demonstrated with the hybrid stream discrete ordinate (HSDO) radiative transfer (RT) model. The HSDO method calculates the monochromatic radiances using a 4-stream discrete ordinate method, where only a small number of monochromatic radiances are simulated with both 4-stream and a larger N-stream (N = 16) discrete ordinate RT algorithm. The accuracy of the obtained channel radiance is comparable to the result from N-stream moderate resolution atmospheric transmission version 5 (MODTRAN5). The root-mean-square errors are usually less than 5x10(exp -4) mW/sq cm/sr/cm. The computational speed is three to four-orders of magnitude faster than the medium speed correlated-k option MODTRAN5. This method is very efficient to simulate thousands of RS spectra under multi-layer clouds/aerosols and solar radiation conditions for climate change study and numerical weather prediction applications.

Photon-Enhanced Thermionic Emission in Cesiated p-Type and n-Type Silicon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reck, Kasper; Dionigi, Fabio; Hansen, Ole

2014-01-01

electrons. Efficiencies above 60% have been predicted theoretically for high solar concentration systems. Silicon is an interesting absorber material for high efficiency PETE solar cells, partly due to its mechanical and thermal properties and partly due to its electrical properties, including a close......Photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) is a relatively new concept for high efficiency solar cells that utilize not only the energy of electrons excited across the band gap by photons, as in conventional photovoltaic solar cells, but also the energy usual lost to thermalization of the excited...... to ideal band gap. The work function of silicon is, however, too high for practical PETE implementations. A well-known method for lowering the work function of silicon (and other materials) is to apply approximately a monolayer of cesium to the silicon surface. We present the first measurements of PETE...

Measuring current emission and work functions of large thermionic cathodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fortgang, C.M.

2001-01-01

As one component of the nations Stockpile Stewardship program, Los Alamos National Laboratory is constructing a 20 MeV, 2 kA (with a 4 kA upgrade capability), 3ps induction linac for doing x-ray radiography of explosive devices. The linac is one leg of a facility called the Dual-Axis Radiography Hydrodynamic Test Facility (DARHT). The electron gun is designed to operate at 3.2 MV. The gun is a Pierce type design and uses a 6.5' cathode for 2 kA operation and an 8' cathode for 4 kA operation. We have constructed a small facility called the Cathode Test Stand (CTS) to investigate engineering and physics issues regarding large thermionic dispenser-cathodes. In particular, we have looked at the issues of temperature uniformity on the cathode surface and cathode quality as measured by its work function. We have done thermal imaging of both 8' and 6.5' cathodes. Here we report on measurements of the cathode work function, both the average value and how it vanes across the face of the cathode.

The outlook for application of powerful nuclear thermionic reactor -powered space electric jet propulsion engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semyonov, Y.P.; Bakanov, Y.A.; Synyavsky, V.V.; Yuditsky, V.D.

1997-01-01

This paper summarizes main study results for application of powerful space electric jet propulsion unit (EJPUs) which is powered by Nuclear Thermionic Power Unit (NTPU). They are combined in Nuclear Power/Propulsion Unit (NPPU) which serves as means of spacecraft equipment power supply and spacecraft movement. Problems the paper deals with are the following: information satellites delivery and their on-orbit power supply during 10-15 years, removal of especially hazardous nuclear wastes, mining of asteroid resources and others. Evaluations on power/time/mass relationship for this type of mission are given. EJPU parameters are compatible with Russian existent or being under development launch vehicle. (author)

A fast and flexible reactor physics model for simulating neutron spectra and depletion in fast reactors - 202

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Recktenwald, G.D.; Bronk, L.A.; Deinert, M.R.

2010-01-01

Determining the time dependent concentration of isotopes within a nuclear reactor core is central to the analysis of nuclear fuel cycles. We present a fast, flexible tool for determining the time dependent neutron spectrum within fast reactors. The code (VBUDS: visualization, burnup, depletion and spectra) uses a two region, multigroup collision probability model to simulate the energy dependent neutron flux and tracks the buildup and burnout of 24 actinides, as well as fission products. While originally developed for LWR simulations, the model is shown to produce fast reactor spectra that show high degree of fidelity to available fast reactor benchmarks. (authors)

Frequency spectrum analysis of 252Cf neutron source based on LabVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mi Deling; Li Pengcheng

2011-01-01

The frequency spectrum analysis of 252 Cf Neutron source is an extremely important method in nuclear stochastic signal processing. Focused on the special '0' and '1' structure of neutron pulse series, this paper proposes a fast-correlation algorithm to improve the computational rate of the spectrum analysis system. And the multi-core processor technology is employed as well as multi-threaded programming techniques of LabVIEW to construct frequency spectrum analysis system of 252 Cf neutron source based on LabVIEW. It not only obtains the auto-correlation and cross correlation results, but also auto-power spectrum,cross-power spectrum and ratio of spectral density. The results show that: analysis tools based on LabVIEW improve the fast auto-correlation and cross correlation code operating efficiency about by 25% to 35%, also verify the feasibility of using LabVIEW for spectrum analysis. (authors)

A program-management plan with critical-path definition for Combustion Augmentation with Thermionic Energy Conversion (CATEC)

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, J. F.; Merrill, O. S.; Reddy, H. K.

1981-01-01

Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) is discussed. In recent TEC-topping analyses, overall plant efficiency (OPE) and cost of electricity (COE) improved slightly with current capabilities and substantially with fully matured technologies. Enhanced credibility derives from proven hot-corrosion protection for TEC by silicon-carbide clads in fossil fuel combustion products. Combustion augmentation with TEC (CATEC) affords minimal cost and plant perturbation, but with smaller OPE and COE improvements than more conventional topping applications. Risk minimization as well as comparative simplicity and convenience, favor CATEC for early market penetration. A program-management plan is proposed. Inputs, characteristics, outputs and capabilities are discussed.

ANALYTICAL MODELING OF ELECTRON BACK-BOMBARDMENT INDUCED CURRENT INCREASE IN UN-GATED THERMIONIC CATHODE RF GUNS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edelen, J. P. [Fermilab; Sun, Y. [Argonne; Harris, J. R. [AFRL, NM; Lewellen, J. W. [Los Alamos Natl. Lab.

2016-09-28

In this paper we derive analytical expressions for the output current of an un-gated thermionic cathode RF gun in the presence of back-bombardment heating. We provide a brief overview of back-bombardment theory and discuss comparisons between the analytical back-bombardment predictions and simulation models. We then derive an expression for the output current as a function of the RF repetition rate and discuss relationships between back-bombardment, fieldenhancement, and output current. We discuss in detail the relevant approximations and then provide predictions about how the output current should vary as a function of repetition rate for some given system configurations.

A program-management plan with critical-path definition for Combustion Augmentation with Thermionic Energy Conversion (CATEC)

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, J. F.; Merrill, O. S.; Reddy, H. K.

Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) is discussed. In recent TEC-topping analyses, overall plant efficiency (OPE) and cost of electricity (COE) improved slightly with current capabilities and substantially with fully matured technologies. Enhanced credibility derives from proven hot-corrosion protection for TEC by silicon-carbide clads in fossil fuel combustion products. Combustion augmentation with TEC (CATEC) affords minimal cost and plant perturbation, but with smaller OPE and COE improvements than more conventional topping applications. Risk minimization as well as comparative simplicity and convenience, favor CATEC for early market penetration. A program-management plan is proposed. Inputs, characteristics, outputs and capabilities are discussed.

Fingerprint extraction from interference destruction terahertz spectrum.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Wei; Shen, Jingling

2010-10-11

In this paper, periodic peaks in a terahertz absorption spectrum are confirmed to be induced from interference effects. Theoretically, we explained the periodic peaks and calculated the locations of them. Accordingly, a technique was suggested, with which the interference peaks in a terahertz spectrum can be eliminated and therefore a real terahertz absorption spectrum can be obtained. Experimentally, a sample, Methamphetamine, was investigated and its terahertz fingerprint was successfully extracted from its interference destruction spectrum. This technique is useful in getting samples' terahertz fingerprint spectra, and furthermore provides a fast nondestructive testing method using a large size terahertz beam to identify materials.

Development of an advanced code system for fast-reactor transient analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konstantin Mikityuk; Sandro Pelloni; Paul Coddington

2005-01-01

FAST (Fast-spectrum Advanced Systems for power production and resource management) is a recently approved PSI activity in the area of fast spectrum core and safety analysis with emphasis on generic developments and Generation IV systems. In frames of the FAST project we will study both statics and transients core physics, reactor system behaviour and safety; related international experiments. The main current goal of the project is to develop unique analytical and code capability for core and safety analysis of critical (and sub-critical) fast spectrum systems with an initial emphasis on a gas cooled fast reactors. A structure of the code system is shown on Fig. 1. The main components of the FAST code system are 1) ERANOS code for preparation of basic x-sections and their partial derivatives; 2) PARCS transient nodal-method multi-group neutron diffusion code for simulation of spatial (3D) neutron kinetics in hexagonal and square geometries; 3) TRAC/AAA code for system thermal hydraulics; 4) FRED transient model for fuel thermal-mechanical behaviour; 5) PVM system as an interface between separate parts of the code system. The paper presents a structure of the code system (Fig. 1), organization of interfaces and data exchanges between main parts of the code system, examples of verification and application of separate codes and the system as a whole. (authors)

Fast neutron analysis code SAD1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, M.; Ott, C.

1985-01-01

A listing and an example of outputs of the M.C. code SAD1 are given here. This code has been used many times to predict responses of fast neutrons in hydrogenic materials (in our case emulsions or plastics) towards the elastic n, p scattering. It can be easily extended to other kinds of such materials and to any kind of incident fast neutron spectrum

Life Testing and Diagnostics of a Planar Out-of-Core Thermionic Converter

Science.gov (United States)

Thayer, Kevin L.; Ramalingam, Mysore L.; Young, Timothy J.; Lamp, Thomas R.

1994-07-01

This paper details the design and performance of an automated computer data acquisition system for a planar, out-of-core thermionic converter with CVD rhenium electrodes. The output characteristics of this converter have been mapped for emitter temperatures ranging from approximately 1700K to 2000K, and life testing of the converter is presently being performed at the design point of operation. An automated data acquisition system has been constructed to facilitate the collection of current density versus output voltage (J-V) and temperature data from the converter throughout the life test. This system minimizes the amount of human interaction necessary during the lifetest to measure and archive the data and present it in a usable form. The task was accomplished using a Macintosh Ilcx computer, two multiple-purpose interface boards, a digital oscilloscope, a sweep generator, and National Instrument's LabVIEW application software package.

Electric strength of metal-ceramic brazed units of thermionic energy converters in cesium vapours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belousenko, A.P.; Vasilchenko, A.V.; Nikolaev, Y.V.

1989-01-01

The investigation of electric strength characteristics of the hollow metal-ceramic brazed units of thermionic energy converters with the insulator 1 = 10-50 mm from polycrystal aluminum oxide at the temperature T = 450-750 degrees and the cesium vapour pressure P Cs = 10 - 1 -10 3 Pa has been carried out. The experimental dependencies of the break-down voltage of the brazed units on the temperature, parameter P Cs · 1 and the value of surface electric resistance of the insulators are given as well as the empiric equations obtained with the help of experimental data for calculating the break-down voltage. A mechanism of ceramic insulator influence on electric strength characteristics of the cesium gap is investigated. A breakdown model explaining this influence is proposed

Study of the influence of the fast neutron spectrum on the production of defects in solids and liquids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mas, P.; Droulers, Y.

1964-01-01

In the first part of this work a calculation has been made of the number of defects formed in graphite by a given neutron flux having various spectral distributions. The defect formation function is that of KINCHIN and PEASE; its formulation is briefly given. An efficiency function is then defined for a fast neutron spectrum. This defects produced in a light water reactor and those produced in a graphite reactor. Finally an application of this method is given for comparing the defect forming tendency in graphite in the case of the reactor Melusine and of the reactor G-2 and G-3. In the second part are calculated the integrals for the energy release brought about by fast neutrons in carbon oxygen and hydrogen. In a region of 25 cm around the core of a swimming-pool type reactor these energy release integrals are approximately proportional to the neutron flux above 1 MeV. The determination of the energy released as a result of the passage of neutrons in organic liquids can therefore be reduced to the measurement of the flux above 1 MeV for the real spectral distribution. A calorimetric verification has been carried out in the case of water. (authors) [fr

Cadmium depletion impacts on hardening neutron spectrum for advanced fuel testing in ATR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Gray S.

2011-01-01

For transmuting long-lived isotopes contained in spent nuclear fuel into shorter-lived fission products effectively is in a fast neutron spectrum reactor. In the absence of a fast spectrum test reactor in the United States of America (USA), initial irradiation testing of candidate fuels can be performed in a thermal test reactor that has been modified to produce a test region with a hardened neutron spectrum. A test region is achieved with a Cadmium (Cd) filter which can harden the neutron spectrum to a spectrum similar (although still somewhat softer) to that of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR). A fuel test loop with a Cd-filter has been installed within the East Flux Trap (EFT) of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). A detailed comparison analyses between the cadmium (Cd) filter hardened neutron spectrum in the ATR and the LMFBR fast neutron spectrum have been performed using MCWO. MCWO is a set of scripting tools that are used to couple the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP with the isotope depletion and buildup code ORIGEN-2.2. The MCWO-calculated results indicate that the Cd-filter can effectively flatten the Rim-Effect and reduce the linear heat rate (LHGR) to meet the advanced fuel testing project requirements at the beginning of irradiation (BOI). However, the filtering characteristics of Cd as a strong absorber quickly depletes over time, and the Cd-filter must be replaced for every two typical operating cycles within the EFT of the ATR. The designed Cd-filter can effectively depress the LHGR in experimental fuels and harden the neutron spectrum enough to adequately flatten the Rim-Effect in the test region. (author)

High power densities from high-temperature material interactions. [in thermionic energy conversion and metallic fluid heat pipes

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, J. F.

1981-01-01

Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) and metallic-fluid heat pipes (MFHPs), offering unique advantages in terrestrial and space energy processing by virtue of operating on working-fluid vaporization/condensation cycles that accept great thermal power densities at high temperatures, share complex materials problems. Simplified equations are presented that verify and solve such problems, suggesting the possibility of cost-effective applications in the near term for TEC and MFHP devices. Among the problems discussed are: the limitation of alkali-metal corrosion, protection against hot external gases, external and internal vaporization, interfacial reactions and diffusion, expansion coefficient matching, and creep deformation.

Fast neutron dosimetry in research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckert, R.

1960-01-01

This work chiefly concerns the measurement of fast neutron fluxes by means of threshold detectors. It is shown first that the cross sections to use for measurements by threshold detectors depend largely on the neutron spectrum, that is the position in which the measurement is performed. The spectrum is determined by calculation for several positions in the piles EL2 and EL3; from this can be deduced the cross-sections to be used for the measurements carried out in these positions. In the last part of the report, possible methods for the experimental determination of the spectrum are indicated. (author) [fr

Current transmission and nonlinear effects in un-gated thermionic cathode RF guns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edelen, J. P. [Fermilab; Harris, J. R. [Air Force Weapons Lab

2017-05-03

Un-gated thermionic cathode RF guns are well known as a robust source of electrons for many accelerator applications. These sources are in principle scalable to high currents without degradation of the transverse emittance due to control grids but they are also known for being limited by back-bombardment. While back-bombardment presents a significant limitation, there is still a lack of general understanding on how emission over the whole RF period will affect the nature of the beams produced from these guns. In order to improve our understanding of how these guns can be used in general we develop analytical models that predict the transmission efficiency as a function of the design parameters, study how bunch compression and emission enhancement caused by Schottky barrier lowering affect the output current profile in the gun, and study the onset of space-charge limited effects and the resultant virtual cathode formation leading to a modulation in the output current distribution.

Fast Reactor Programme. Third Quarter 1969. Progress Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoekstra, E.K.

1970-02-01

The RCN research programme on fast spectrum nuclear reactors comprises reactor physics, fuel performance, radiation damage in canning materials, corrosion behaviour in canning materials, aerosol research and heat transfer and hydraulics. An overview is given of the fast reactor experiments at the STEK critical facility in Petten, the Netherlands, in the third quarter of 1969

Adherence of diamond films on refractory metal substrates for thermionic applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsao, B.H.; Ramalingam, M.L.; Adams, S.F.; Cloyd, J.S.

1991-01-01

Diamond films are currently being considered as electrical insulation material for application in the thermionic fuel element of a power producing nuclear reactor system. The function of the diamond insulator in this application is to electrically isolate the collector of each cell in the TFE from the coolant and outer sheath. Deposition of diamond films on plane surfaces of Si/SiO 2 have already been demonstrated to be quite effective. However, the diamond films on refractory metal surfaces tend to spall off in the process of deposition revealing an inefficient adherence characteristic between the film and the substrate. This paper is geared towards explaining this deficiency by way of selected experimentation and the use of analytical tools to predict uncertainties such as the mismatch in coefficient of expansion, micrographic study of the interface between the film and the substrate and X-ray diffraction spectra. The investigation of the adherence characteristics of several diamond films on Mo and Nb substrates revealed that there was an allowable stress that resulted in the formation of the critical thickness for the diamond film

Measurements of fast neutron spectra in iron, uranium and sodium-iron assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kappler, F.; Pieroni, N.; Rusch, D.; Schmidt, A.; Wattecamps, E.; Werle, H.

1979-01-01

Spectrum measurements were performed at the fast subcritical facility SUAK to test nuclear data and computer codes used in fast reactor calculations. In order to obtain a specific and quantitative interpretation of discrepancies between measured and calculated spectrum, homogeneous assemblies consisting of single materials were investigated. The leakage spectrum of iron and uranium cylinders was measured by time-of-flight and proportional counters. Time-dependent leakage spectra were measured by a NE 213 liquid scintillator. It was demonstrated that the investigation of time-dependent spectra is a sensitive test of inelastic scattering cross section data. The effect of an interface on fast neutron spectra was also investigated by measuring space dependent spectra across a sodium-iron interface. The measured spectra of these assemblies are suitable for testing the adequacy of computational approximations and cross section data. (author)

Technology for computer-stabilized peak of NaI(Tl) gamma spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Jianzhen; Guo Lanying; Ling Qiu; Qu Guopu; Zhao Lihong; Hu Chuangye

2005-01-01

An improved technology for spectrum stabilization of NaI(Tl) gamma spectrum was introduced. This technology is based on the system using a reference peak, which is equivalent gamma peak of 241 Am source. The computer seeks peak's position deviation and computes adjust value of programmable amplifier and controls programmable amplifier to stabilize spectrum by digital PID. This is a technology of spectrum stabilizing with 'hardware + reference-peak + software' and has high stability and fast speed of spectrum stabilizing. (author)

Observations of fast variable objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekseev, G.N.

1978-01-01

A problem on studying fast variable astronomic objects is considered. The basis of the method used in the experiment is a detailed photoelectric study of a fast variableness along with spectroscopy of a high time resolution. Power spectrum of the SS Cyg brightness oscillations and autocorrelation function of the AX Mon brightness are analyzed as an example. To provide a reliable identification of parameters of star active regions responsible for the fast variableness, an experiment is proposed, the ''synchronous spectroscopy'' method being used. The method is based on the supposition about temporary stationarity of occasional processes within the limits of the time scale of several hours. The block diagram of the experiment is described

A fast spectrum dual path flow cermet reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anghaie, S.; Feller, G.J.; Peery, S.D.; Parsley, R.C.

1993-01-01

A cermet fueled, dual path fast reactor for space nuclear propulsion applications is conceptually designed. The reactor utilizes an outer annulus core and an inner cylindrical core with radial and axial reflector. The dual path flow minimizes the impact of power peaking near the radial reflector. Basic neutronics and core design aspects of the reactor are discussed. The dual path reactor is integrated into a 25000 lbf thrust nuclear rocket

Thermionic cooling devices based on resonant-tunneling AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure

Science.gov (United States)

Bescond, M.; Logoteta, D.; Michelini, F.; Cavassilas, N.; Yan, T.; Yangui, A.; Lannoo, M.; Hirakawa, K.

2018-02-01

We study by means of full quantum simulations the operating principle and performance of a semiconductor heterostructure refrigerator combining resonant tunneling filtering and thermionic emission. Our model takes into account the coupling between the electric and thermal currents by self-consistently solving the transport equations within the non-equilibrium Green’s function framework and the heat equation. We show that the device can achieve relatively high cooling power values, while in the considered implementation, the maximum lattice temperature drop is severely limited by the thermal conductivity of the constituting materials. In such an out-of-equilibrium structure, we then emphasize the significant deviation of the phonon temperature from its electronic counterpart which can vary over several hundred Kelvin. The interplay between those two temperatures and the impact on the electrochemical potential is also discussed. Finally, viable options toward an optimization of the device are proposed.

Determination of rare earth elements in high purity rare earth oxides by liquid chromatography, thermionic mass spectrometry and combined liquid chromatography/thermionic mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stijfhoorn, D.E.; Stray, H.; Hjelmseth, H.

1993-01-01

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of rare earth elements in rocks has been modified and used for the determination of rare earth elements (REE) in high purity rare earth oxides. The detection limit was 1-1.5 ng or 2-3 mg/kg when a solution corresponding to 0.5 mg of the rare earth oxide was injected. The REE determination was also carried out by adding a mixture of selected REE isotopes to the sample and analysing the collected HPLC-fractions by mass spectrometry (MS) using a thermionic source. Since the matrix element was not collected, interference from this element during the mass spectrometric analysis was avoided. Detection limits as low as 0.5 mg/kg could then be obtained. Detection limits as low as 0.05 mg/kg were possible by MS without HPLC-pre-separation, but this approach could only be used for those elements that were not affected by the matrix. Commercial samples of high purity Nd 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 and Dy 2 O 3 were analysed in this study, and a comparison of results obtained by HPLC, combined HPLC/MS and direct MS is presented. (Author)

Aspects of 238Pu production in the experimental fast reactor JOYO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osaka, Masahiko; Koyama, Shin-ichi; Tanaka, Kenya; Itoh, Masahiko; Saito, Masaki

2005-01-01

Experimental determination of 238 Pu in 237 Np samples irradiated in the experimental fast reactor JOYO was done as part of the demonstration of 238 Pu production from 237 Np in fast reactors within the framework of the protected Pu production project, which aims at reinforcement of proliferation resistance of Pu by increasing the 238 Pu isotopic ratio. 238 Pu production amount in the irradiated 237 Np samples was determined by a radioanalytical technique. Aspects of 238 Pu production were examined on the basis of the present radioanalysis. The 238 Pu production amount depends on the neutron spectrum which can range from that of a typical fast reactor to a nearly epi-thermal spectrum. It is concluded that the fast reactor has not only high potential for use in protected Pu production, but also as an incinerator for excess Pu

Fusion reaction spectra produced by anisotropic fast ions in the PLT tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidbrink, W.W.

1984-02-01

For beam-target fusion reactions, collimated measurements of the energy spectrum of one of the reaction products can provide information on the degree of anisotropy of the reacting beam ions. Measurements of the spectrum of 15 MeV protons produced by reactions between energetic 3 He ions and relatively cold deuterons during fast wave minority heating in the PLT tokamak indicate that the velocity distribution of fast 3 He ions is peaked perpendicular to the tokamak magnetic field

Cone-guided fast ignition with no imposed magnetic fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Strozzi D.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Simulations are presented of ignition-scale fast ignition targets with the integrated Zuma-Hydra PIC-hydrodynamic capability. We consider a spherical DT fuel assembly with a carbon cone, and an artificially-collimated fast electron source. We study the role of E and B fields and the fast electron energy spectrum. For mono-energetic 1.5 MeV fast electrons, without E and B fields, ignition can be achieved with fast electron energy Efig = 30kJ. This is 3.5× the minimal deposited ignition energy of 8.7 kJ for our fuel density of 450 g/cm3. Including E and B fields with the resistive Ohm's law E = ηJb gives Efig = 20kJ, while using the full Ohm's law gives Efig > 40 kJ. This is due to magnetic self-guiding in the former case, and ∇n ×∇T magnetic fields in the latter. Using a realistic, quasi two-temperature energy spectrum derived from PIC laser-plasma simulations increases Efig to (102, 81, 162 kJ for (no E/B, E = ηJb, full Ohm's law. Such electrons are too energetic to stop in the optimal hot spot depth.

Gamma ray spectrum analysis code: sigmas 1.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siangsanan, P.; Dharmavanij, W.; Chongkum, S.

1996-01-01

We have developed Sigmas 1.0 a software package for data reduction and gamma ray spectra evaluation. It is capable of analysing the gamma-ray spectrum in the range of 0-3 MeV by semiconductor detector, i.e. Ge(Li) or HPGe, peak searching, net area determining, plotting and spectrum displaying. There are two methods for calculating the net area under peaks; the Covell method and non-linear fitting by the method of Levenberg and Marquardt which can fit any multiplet peak in the spectrum. The graphic display was rather fast and user friendly

Effect of the work function and emission of the collector on the parameters of thermionic converters (TC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaibyshev, V.Z.

1986-01-01

In the optimal, relative to the temperature of the collector, state of modern thermionic converters (TC) the emission of the electrons from it has a substantial effect on the voltage drop in the gap. This paper preents an analysis of the boundary conditions at the collector of the TC. Calculations are presented which show that with a constant current the plasma parameters at the boundary with the collector are virtually independent of the emission from the collector right up to vanishing of the potential jump. The optimal regime with respect to temperatuer and work function of the collector is examined. The collector with a nonuniform work function is discussed

Nanolensed Fast Radio Bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Eichler, David

2017-12-01

It is suggested that fast radio bursts can probe gravitational lensing by clumpy dark matter objects that range in mass from 10-3 M ⊙-102 M ⊙. They may provide a more sensitive probe than observations of lensings of objects in the Magellanic Clouds, and could find or rule out clumpy dark matter with an extended mass spectrum.

Measurements of the energy spectrum of backscattered fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segal, Y.

1976-03-01

Experimental measurements have been made of the energy spectra of neutrons transmitted through slabs of iron, lead and perspex for incident neutron energies of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 1.8 MeV. The neutron energy measurements were made using a He-3 spectrometer. The dependence of the neutrons energy spectrum as a function of scattering thickness was determined. The neutrons source used was a 3MeV Van de Graaff accelerator with a tritium target using the H 3 (p,n) He 3 reaction. The results obtained by the investigator on energy dependence of transmitted neutrons as a function of thickness of scattering material were compared, where possible, with the results obtained by other workers. The comparisons indicated good agreement. The experiment's results are compared with MORSE Monte Carlo calculated values. It is worthwhile to note that direct comparison between measured cross section values and the recommended ones are very far from satisfactory. In almost all cases the calculated spectrum is harder than the experimental one, a situation common to the penetrating and the back-scattered flux

Neutron dynamics of fast-spectrum dedicated cores for waste transmutation; Etude et amelioration du comportement cinetique de coeurs rapides a la transmutation de dechets a vie longue

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Massara, S

2002-04-01

Among different scenarios achieving minor actinide transmutation, the possibility of double strata scenarios with critical, fast spectrum, dedicated cores must be checked and quantified. In these cores, the waste fraction has to be at the highest level compatible with safety requirements during normal operation and transient conditions. As reactivity coefficients are poor in such critical cores (low delayed neutron fraction and Doppler feed-back, high coolant void coefficient), their dynamic behaviour during transient conditions must be carefully analysed. Three nitride-fuel configurations have been analysed: two liquid metal-cooled (sodium and lead) and a particle-fuel helium-cooled one. A dynamic code, MAT4 DYN, has been developed during the PhD thesis, allowing the study of loss of flow, reactivity insertion and loss of coolant accidents, and taking into account two fuel geometries (cylindrical and spherical) and two thermal-hydraulics models for the coolant (incompressible for liquid metals and compressible for helium). Dynamics calculations have shown that if the fuel nature is appropriately chosen (letting a sufficient margin during transients), this can counterbalance the bad state of reactivity coefficients for liquid metal-cooled cores, thus proving the interest of this kind of concept. On the other side, the gas-cooled core dynamics is very badly affected by the high value of the helium void coefficient (which is a consequence of the choice of a hard spectrum), this effect being amplified by the very low thermal inertia of particle-fuel design. So, a new kind of concept should be considered for a helium-cooled fast-spectrum dedicated core. (authors)

SB3. Experiment on secondary gamma-ray production cross sections averaged over a fast-neutron spectrum for each of 13 different elements plus a stainless steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maerker, R.E.

1976-01-01

The experimental and calculational details for a CSEWG integral data testing shielding experiment are presented. This particular experiment measured the secondary gamma-ray production cross sections averaged over a fast-neutron spectrum for iron, oxygen, sodium, aluminum, copper, titanium, calcium, potassium, silicon, nickel, zinc, barium, sulfur, and a type 321 stainless steel. The gamma-ray production cross sections were binned into 0.5-MeV wide gamma-ray energy intervals. 29 tables, 1 figure

CHAM: a fast algorithm of modelling non-linear matter power spectrum in the sCreened HAlo Model

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Bin; Liu, Xue-Wen; Cai, Rong-Gen

2018-05-01

We present a fast numerical screened halo model algorithm (CHAM, which stands for the sCreened HAlo Model) for modelling non-linear power spectrum for the alternative models to Λ cold dark matter. This method has three obvious advantages. First of all, it is not being restricted to a specific dark energy/modified gravity model. In principle, all of the screened scalar-tensor theories can be applied. Secondly, the least assumptions are made in the calculation. Hence, the physical picture is very easily understandable. Thirdly, it is very predictable and does not rely on the calibration from N-body simulation. As an example, we show the case of the Hu-Sawicki f(R) gravity. In this case, the typical CPU time with the current parallel PYTHON script (eight threads) is roughly within 10 min. The resulting spectra are in a good agreement with N-body data within a few percentage accuracy up to k ˜ 1 h Mpc-1.

Multigroup calculation of criticality and power distribution in a two-pass fast spectrum cermet-fueled reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anghaie, S.; Feller, G.J.; Peery, S.D.; Parsley, R.C.

1992-01-01

The advanced propulsion group at Pratt ampersand Whitney has developed a nuclear thermal rocket concept, the XNR2000, for use on lunear, Mars, and deep-space planetary missions. The XNR2000 engine is powered by a fast spectrum cermet-fueled nuclear reactor that heats up hydrogen propellant to a maximum of 2850 K. An expander cycle is used to deliver 12 kg/s hydrogen to the core, producing 25,000 lb f thrust at 944 s of specific impulse. The reactor comprises a beryllium-reflected outer annulus core and an inner core with the hydrogen propellant entering from the bottom of the outer core and exiting from the bottom part of the inner core to the thrust chamber. Both the outer and inner cores are loaded with prismatic cermet fuel elements. The baseline XNR2000 reactor core consists of 90 fuel elements in the outer core and 61 in the inner core, arranged in the pattern. This paper focuses on the neutronic analysis of the baseline XNR2000 reactor

FAST and SAFE Passive Safety Devices for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartanto, Donny; Kim, Chihyung; Kim, In-Hyung; Kim, Yonghee [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

The major factor is the impact of the neutron spectral hardening. The second factor that affects the CVR is reduced capture by the coolant when the coolant voiding occurs. To improve the CVR, many ideas and concepts have been proposed, which include introduction of an internal blanket, spectrum softening, or increasing the neutron leakage. These ideas may reduce the CVR, but they deteriorate the neutron economy. Another potential solution is to adopt a passive safety injection device such as the ARC (autonomous reactivity control) system, which is still under development. In this paper, two new concepts of passive safety devices are proposed. The devices are called FAST (Floating Absorber for Safety at Transient) and SAFE (Static Absorber Feedback Equipment). Their purpose is to enhance the negative reactivity feedback originating from the coolant in fast reactors. SAFE is derived to balance the positive reactivity feedback due to sodium coolant temperature increases. It has been demonstrated that SAFE allows a low-leakage SFR to achieve a self-shutdown and self-controllability even though the generic coolant temperature coefficient is quite positive and the coolant void reactivity can be largely managed by the new FAST device. It is concluded that both FAST and SAFE devices will improve substantially the fast reactor safety and they deserve more detailed investigations.

Concept on coupled spectrum B/T (burning and/or transmutation) reactor for treatment of minor actinides by thermal and fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aziz, Ferhat; Kitamoto, Asashi

1996-01-01

A conceptual design of B/T (burning and/or transmutation) reactor based on a modified conventional 1150 MWe-PWR system, with core consisted of two concentric regions for thermal and fast neutrons, was proposed herein for B/T treatment of MA (minor actinides). The B/T fuel considered was supposed such that MA discharged from 1 GWe-LWR was blended homogeneously with the composition of LWR fuel. In the outer region 23- Np, 241 Am and 243 Am were loaded and burned by thermal neutron, while in the inner region 244 Cm was loaded and burned mainly by fast neutron. The geometry of B/T fuel and the fuel assembly in the outer region was left in the same condition to those of standard PWR while in the inner region the B/T fuel was arranged in the hexagonal geometry, allowed high fuel to coolant volume ratio (V m /V f ), to keep the harder neutron spectrum. Two cases of the Coupled Spectrum B/T Reactor (CSR) with different (V m 1 f ) ratio in the inner region were studied, and the results for the tight lattice with (V m /V f ) = 0.5 showed that those isotopes approached the equilibrium composition after about 5 recycle period, when the CSR was operated under the reactivity swing of 2.8 % dk/k. The evaluations on the void coefficient of reactivity, the Doppler effect and the reactivity swing showed that the CSR concept has the inherent safety and can burn and/or transmute all kind of MA in a single reactor. This CSR can burn about 808 kg of MA in one recycle period of 3 years, which is equivalent to the discharged fuel from about 12 units of LWR in a year. (author)

The fast fission effect in a cylindrical fuel element

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlvik, I; Pershagen, B

1959-06-15

A new formula for the fast fission factor is derived, which takes proper account to fast capture. The fission neutron spectrum is divided into two groups with constant fission cross section in one group and zero fission cross section in the other. The average total, elastic, inelastic and capture cross sections in the two groups are calculated. Different assumptions regarding anisotropic and inelastic scattering are investigated. The effects of backscattering from the moderator and fast fission in neighbouring fuel elements are pointed out. Formulas for the fast fission ratio and for the fast conversion ratio are derived. The calculated fast fission ratios are compared with experimental values. Curves are given for the fast fission factor in uranium metal and uranium oxide.

The perturbation of backscattered fast neutrons spectrum caused by the resonances of C, N and O for possible use in pyromaterial detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abedin, Ahmad Firdaus Zainal, E-mail: firdaus087@gmail.com; Ibrahim, Noorddin; Zabidi, Noriza Ahmad; Abdullah, Abqari Luthfi Albert [Department of Defence Science, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur 57000 (Malaysia)

2015-04-29

Neutron radiation is able to determine the signature of land mine detection based on backscattering energy spectrum of landmine. In this study, the Monte Carlo simulation of backscattered fast neutrons was performed on four basic elements of land mine; hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. The moderation of fast neutrons to thermal neutrons and their resonances cross-section between 0.01 eV until 14 MeV were analysed. The neutrons energies were divided into 29 groups and ten million neutrons particles histories were used. The geometries consist of four main components: neutrons source, detectors, landmine and soil. The neutrons source was placed at the origin coordinate and shielded with carbon and polyethylene. Americium/Beryllium neutron source was placed inside lead casing of 1 cm thick and 2.5 cm height. Polyethylene was used to absorb and disperse radiation and was placed outside the lead shield of width 10 cm and height 7 cm. Two detectors were placed between source with distance of 8 cm and radius of 1.9 cm. Detectors of Helium-3 was used for neutron detection as it has high absorption cross section for thermal neutrons. For the anomaly, the physical is in cylinder form with radius of 10 cm and 8.9 cm height. The anomaly is buried 5 cm deep in the bed soil measured 80 cm radius and 53.5 cm height. The results show that the energy spectrum for the four basic elements of landmine with specific pattern which can be used as indication for the presence of landmines.

The perturbation of backscattered fast neutrons spectrum caused by the resonances of C, N and O for possible use in pyromaterial detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abedin, Ahmad Firdaus Zainal; Ibrahim, Noorddin; Zabidi, Noriza Ahmad; Abdullah, Abqari Luthfi Albert

2015-01-01

Neutron radiation is able to determine the signature of land mine detection based on backscattering energy spectrum of landmine. In this study, the Monte Carlo simulation of backscattered fast neutrons was performed on four basic elements of land mine; hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon. The moderation of fast neutrons to thermal neutrons and their resonances cross-section between 0.01 eV until 14 MeV were analysed. The neutrons energies were divided into 29 groups and ten million neutrons particles histories were used. The geometries consist of four main components: neutrons source, detectors, landmine and soil. The neutrons source was placed at the origin coordinate and shielded with carbon and polyethylene. Americium/Beryllium neutron source was placed inside lead casing of 1 cm thick and 2.5 cm height. Polyethylene was used to absorb and disperse radiation and was placed outside the lead shield of width 10 cm and height 7 cm. Two detectors were placed between source with distance of 8 cm and radius of 1.9 cm. Detectors of Helium-3 was used for neutron detection as it has high absorption cross section for thermal neutrons. For the anomaly, the physical is in cylinder form with radius of 10 cm and 8.9 cm height. The anomaly is buried 5 cm deep in the bed soil measured 80 cm radius and 53.5 cm height. The results show that the energy spectrum for the four basic elements of landmine with specific pattern which can be used as indication for the presence of landmines

Mission operations for unmanned nuclear electric propulsion outer planet exploration with a thermionic reactor spacecraft.

Science.gov (United States)

Spera, R. J.; Prickett, W. Z.; Garate, J. A.; Firth, W. L.

1971-01-01

Mission operations are presented for comet rendezvous and outer planet exploration NEP spacecraft employing in-core thermionic reactors for electric power generation. The selected reference missions are the Comet Halley rendezvous and a Jupiter orbiter at 5.9 planet radii, the orbit of the moon Io. The characteristics of the baseline multi-mission NEP spacecraft are presented and its performance in other outer planet missions, such as Saturn and Uranus orbiters and a Neptune flyby, are discussed. Candidate mission operations are defined from spacecraft assembly to mission completion. Pre-launch operations are identified. Shuttle launch and subsequent injection to earth escape by the Centaur D-1T are discussed, as well as power plant startup and the heliocentric mission phases. The sequence and type of operations are basically identical for all missions investigated.

Some properties of low-vapor-pressure braze alloys for thermionic converters

Science.gov (United States)

Bair, V. L.

1978-01-01

Density, dc electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and linear thermal expansion are measured for arc-melted rod-shaped samples of binary eutectics of Zr, Hf, Ru, Nb, Ir, Mo, Ta, Os, Re, and W selected as very-low-pressure braze fillers for thermionic converters. The first two properties are measured at 296 K for Zr-21.7 at% Ru, Zr-13 wt% W, Zr-19 wt% W, Zr-22.3 at% Nb, Nb-66.9 at% Ru, Hf-25.3 wt% Re, Zr-25.7 at% Ta, Hf-22.5 at% W, and Nb-35 wt% Mo. The last property is measured from 293 K to 2/3 melting point for specified alloys of different compositions. Resistivities of 0.000055 to 0.000181 ohm-cm are observed with the alloys having resistivities about ten times that of the less resistive constituent metal and about three times that of the more resistive constituent metal, except for Zr-19 wt% W and Nb-35 wt% Mo (greater resistivities). Thermal expansion coefficients vary from 0.000006 to 0.0000105/K. All brazes exhibit linear thermal expansion near that of their constituent metals.

Speed testing of Sliding spectrum analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frenski, Emil; Manolev, Dimitar

2013-01-01

The standard method for spectrum analysis in DSP is the Discrete Fourier transform (DFT), typically implemented using a Fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm. The reconstruction of the time-domain signal is then performed by the IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier transform) algorithm. The FFT calculates the spectral components in a window, on a block-by-block basis. If that window is move by one sample, it is obvious that most of the information will remain the same. This article shows how to measure execution time of scripts realizing SDFT algorithm written for MatLab

FAST-PT: a novel algorithm to calculate convolution integrals in cosmological perturbation theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McEwen, Joseph E.; Fang, Xiao; Hirata, Christopher M.; Blazek, Jonathan A., E-mail: mcewen.24@osu.edu, E-mail: fang.307@osu.edu, E-mail: hirata.10@osu.edu, E-mail: blazek@berkeley.edu [Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, 191 W Woodruff Ave, Columbus OH 43210 (United States)

2016-09-01

We present a novel algorithm, FAST-PT, for performing convolution or mode-coupling integrals that appear in nonlinear cosmological perturbation theory. The algorithm uses several properties of gravitational structure formation—the locality of the dark matter equations and the scale invariance of the problem—as well as Fast Fourier Transforms to describe the input power spectrum as a superposition of power laws. This yields extremely fast performance, enabling mode-coupling integral computations fast enough to embed in Monte Carlo Markov Chain parameter estimation. We describe the algorithm and demonstrate its application to calculating nonlinear corrections to the matter power spectrum, including one-loop standard perturbation theory and the renormalization group approach. We also describe our public code (in Python) to implement this algorithm. The code, along with a user manual and example implementations, is available at https://github.com/JoeMcEwen/FAST-PT.

Fast simulation tool for ultraviolet radiation at the earth's surface

Science.gov (United States)

Engelsen, Ola; Kylling, Arve

2005-04-01

FastRT is a fast, yet accurate, UV simulation tool that computes downward surface UV doses, UV indices, and irradiances in the spectral range 290 to 400 nm with a resolution as small as 0.05 nm. It computes a full UV spectrum within a few milliseconds on a standard PC, and enables the user to convolve the spectrum with user-defined and built-in spectral response functions including the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) erythemal response function used for UV index calculations. The program accounts for the main radiative input parameters, i.e., instrumental characteristics, solar zenith angle, ozone column, aerosol loading, clouds, surface albedo, and surface altitude. FastRT is based on look-up tables of carefully selected entries of atmospheric transmittances and spherical albedos, and exploits the smoothness of these quantities with respect to atmospheric, surface, geometrical, and spectral parameters. An interactive site, http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/fastrt.html, enables the public to run the FastRT program with most input options. This page also contains updated information about FastRT and links to freely downloadable source codes and binaries.

The fast neutron emission spectrum of 252-Cf

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bensch, F.

1979-07-01

The aim of this work was a new measurement of the neutron emission spectrum of 252-Cf neutron standard sources as the IAEA is offering to users. The main feature was the application of gas-filled proton-recoil spectrometers and no TOF technique. The special interest of this document was in the temperature parameter of the Maxwellian distribution and in its relative deviations. In this connection, special measurements with high energy resolution were carried out in a search for fine structure neutron groups, which have been observed in some TOF measurements, but could not be reproduced during this measurement

Prompt neutron energy spectrum for the spontaneous fission of Cf-252

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blinov, M.V.; Boykov, G.S.; Vitenko, V.A.

1985-06-01

The prompt neutron spectrum for the spontaneous fission of Cf-252 has been measured in 0.01-10 MeV region by the time-of-flight technique using a fast ionization chamber with U-235 layers as the neutron detector. Numerical data for the spectrum are presented, with an error file. (author)

Characterization of the fast electrons distribution produced in a high intensity laser target interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westover, B. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Chen, C. D.; Patel, P. K.; McLean, H. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Beg, F. N., E-mail: fbeg@ucsd.edu [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)

2014-03-15

Experiments on the Titan laser (∼150 J, 0.7 ps, 2 × 10{sup 20} W cm{sup −2}) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory were carried out in order to study the properties of fast electrons produced by high-intensity, short pulse laser interacting with matter under conditions relevant to Fast Ignition. Bremsstrahlung x-rays produced by these fast electrons were measured by a set of compact filter-stack based x-ray detectors placed at three angles with respect to the target. The measured bremsstrahlung signal allows a characterization of the fast electron beam spectrum, conversion efficiency of laser energy into fast electron kinetic energy and angular distribution. A Monte Carlo code Integrated Tiger Series was used to model the bremsstrahlung signal and infer a laser to fast electron conversion efficiency of 30%, an electron slope temperature of about 2.2 MeV, and a mean divergence angle of 39°. Simulations were also performed with the hybrid transport code ZUMA which includes fields in the target. In this case, a conversion efficiency of laser energy to fast electron energy of 34% and a slope temperature between 1.5 MeV and 4 MeV depending on the angle between the target normal direction and the measuring spectrometer are found. The observed temperature of the bremsstrahlung spectrum, and therefore the inferred electron spectrum are found to be angle dependent.

Experimental possibilities and fast neutron dose map of the fast neutron fields at the RB reactor facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokcic-Kostic, M.; Pesic, M.; Antic, D.; Ninkovic, M.

1993-01-01

The RB is an unshielded, zero power nuclear facility with natural and enriched uranium fuel (2% and 80%) and D 2 O as moderator. It is possible to create different configurations of non-reflected and partially reflected critical systems and to make experiments in the fields of thermal neutrons. The fields of fast neutrons with 'softened' fission spectrum are made by modifying the system: modified experimental fuel channel EFC, coupled fast-thermal system in two configurations CFTS-1 and CFTS-2, coupled fast-thermal core HERBE. The intermediate and fast neutron absorbed doses in fast neutron fields are given. In first configuration of RB reactor it was almost impossible to perform dosimetric and other experiments. By creating these fields, with in our circumstances available fuel elements, the possibilities for different experiments are greatly improved. Now we can irradiate food samples, soil samples, electronic devices, study material properties, perform various dosimetry experiments, etc. (1 tab.)

Distinguishing Pu Metal from Pu Oxide and Determining alpha-ratio using Fast Neutron Counting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verbeke, J. M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Chapline, G. F. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Nakae, L. F. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Prasad, M. K. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Sheets, S. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Snyderman, N. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-01-07

We describe a new method for determining the ratio of the rate of (α, n) source neutrons to the rate of spontaneous fission neutrons, the so called α-ratio. This method is made possible by fast neutron counting with liquid scintillator detectors, which can determine the shape of the fast neutron spectrum. The method utilizes the spectral difference between fission spectrum neutrons from Pu metal and the spectrum of (α, n) neutrons from PuO₂. Our method is a generalization of the Cifarelli-Hage method for determining k_eff for fissile assemblies, and also simultaneously determines k_eff along with the α-ratio.

Application of a Virtual Reactivity Feedback Control Loop in Non-Nuclear Testing of a Fast Spectrum Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bragg-Sitton, Shannon M.; Forsbacka, Matthew

2004-01-01

For a compact, fast-spectrum reactor, reactivity feedback is dominated by core deformation at elevated temperature. Given the use of accurate deformation measurement techniques, it is possible to simulate nuclear feedback in non-nuclear electrically heated reactor tests. Implementation of simulated reactivity feedback in response to measured deflection is being tested at the Nasa Marshall Space Flight Center Early Flight Fission Test Facility (EFF-TF). During tests of the SAFE-100 reactor prototype, core deflection was monitored using a high resolution camera. 'Virtual' reactivity feedback was accomplished by applying the results of Monte Carlo calculations (MCNPX) to core deflection measurements; the computational analysis was used to establish the reactivity worth of various core deformations. The power delivered to the SAFE-100 prototype was then adjusted accordingly via kinetics calculations. The work presented in this paper will demonstrate virtual reactivity feedback as core power was increased from 1 kWt to 10 kWt, held approximately constant at 10 kWt, and then allowed to decrease based on the negative thermal reactivity coefficient. (authors)

Actinide recycle potential in the integral fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Y.I.

1993-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel cycle holds promise for substantial improvements in economics, diversion-resistance, and waste management. In the IFR pyroprocessing, minor actinides accompany plutonium product stream, and therefore, actinide recycle occurs naturally. The fast neutron spectrum of the IFR makes it an ideal actinide burner, as well. This paper discusses technical features of the IFR fuel cycle, its technical progress, the development status, and potential implications on long-term waste management

Surface properties of ceramic/metal composite materials for thermionic converter applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, P.R.; Bozack, M.J.; Swanson, L.W.

1983-01-01

Ceramic/metal composite electrode materials are of interest for thermionic energy conversion (TEC) applications for several reasons. These materials consist of submicron metal fibers or islands in an oxide matrix and therefore provide a basis for fabricating finely structured electrodes, with projecting or recessed metallic regions for more efficient electron emission or collection. Furthermore, evaporation and surface diffusion of matrix oxides may provide oxygen enhancement of cesium adsorption and work function lowering at both the collecting and emitting electrode surfaces of the TEC. Finally, the high work function oxide matrix or oxide-metal interfaces may provide efficient surface ionization of cesium for space-charge reduction in the device. The authors are investigating two types of ceramic/metal composite materials. One type is a directionally solidified eutectic consisting of a bulk oxide matrix such as UO 2 or stabilized ZrO 2 with parallel metal fibers (W) running through the oxide being exposed at the surface by cutting perpendicular to the fiber direction. The second type of material, called a surface eutectic, consists of a refractory substrate (Mo) with a thin layer of deposited and segregated material (Mo-Cr 2 O 3 -A1 2 O 3 ) on the surface. The final configuration of this layer is an oxide matrix with metallic islands scattered throughout

Research and Development of a New Field Enhanced Low Temperature Thermionic Cathode that Enables Fluorescent Dimming and Loan Shedding without Auxiliary Cathode Heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng Jin

2009-01-07

This is the final report for project entitled 'Research and development of a new field enhanced low temperature thermionic cathode that enables fluorescent dimming and load shedding without auxiliary cathode heating', under Agreement Number: DE-FC26-04NT-42329. Under this project, a highly efficient CNT based thermionic cathode was demonstrated. This cathode is capable of emitting electron at a current density two order of magnitude stronger then a typical fluorescent cathode at same temperatures, or capable of emitting at same current density but at temperature about 300 C lower than that of a fluorescent cathode. Detailed fabrication techniques were developed including CVD growth of CNTs and sputter deposition of oxide thin films on CNTs. These are mature technologies that have been widely used in industry for large scale materials processing and device fabrications, thus, with further development work, the techniques developed in this project can be scaled-up in manufacturing environment. The prototype cathodes developed in this project were tested in lighting plasma discharge environment. In many cases, they not only lit and sustain the plasma, but also out perform the fluorescent cathodes in key parameters such like cathode fall voltages. More work will be needed to further evaluate more detailed and longer term performance of the prototype cathode in lighting plasma.

Fast Neutron Spectrum Potassium Worth for Space Power Reactor Design Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bess, John D. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Marshall, Margaret A. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Briggs, J. Blair [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Tsiboulia, Anatoli [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Rozhikhin, Yevgeniy [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Mihalczo, John T. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-03-01

A variety of critical experiments were constructed of enriched uranium metal (oralloy ) during the 1960s and 1970s at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility (ORCEF) in support of criticality safety operations at the Y-12 Plant. The purposes of these experiments included the evaluation of storage, casting, and handling limits for the Y-12 Plant and providing data for verification of calculation methods and cross-sections for nuclear criticality safety applications. These included solid cylinders of various diameters, annuli of various inner and outer diameters, two and three interacting cylinders of various diameters, and graphite and polyethylene reflected cylinders and annuli. Of the hundreds of delayed critical experiments, one was performed that consisted of uranium metal annuli surrounding a potassium-filled, stainless steel can. The outer diameter of the annuli was approximately 13 inches (33.02 cm) with an inner diameter of 7 inches (17.78 cm). The diameter of the stainless steel can was 7 inches (17.78 cm). The critical height of the configurations was approximately 5.6 inches (14.224 cm). The uranium annulus consisted of multiple stacked rings, each with radial thicknesses of 1 inch (2.54 cm) and varying heights. A companion measurement was performed using empty stainless steel cans; the primary purpose of these experiments was to test the fast neutron cross sections of potassium as it was a candidate for coolant in some early space power reactor designs.The experimental measurements were performed on July 11, 1963, by J. T. Mihalczo and M. S. Wyatt (Ref. 1) with additional information in its corresponding logbook. Unreflected and unmoderated experiments with the same set of highly enriched uranium metal parts were performed at the Oak Ridge Critical Experiments Facility in the 1960s and are evaluated in the International Handbook for Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP Handbook) with the identifier HEU MET FAST 051. Thin

Performance evaluation and parametric optimum design of a vacuum thermionic solar cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao, Tianjun; Chen, Xiaohang; Chen, Jincan; Lin, Bihong

2016-01-01

A model of the vacuum thermionic solar cell (VTSC) consisting of a solar concentrator, an emitter, and a collector is proposed, in which the various heat losses including the far- and near-field thermal radiation are taken into account. Formula for the overall efficiency of the system is analytically derived. For given values of the ratio of the front surface area of the absorber to that of the emitter and the vacuum gap between the emitter and the collector, the operating temperatures of the emitter and collector are determined by solving the energy balance equations. The maximum efficiency of the VTSC are calculated for given values of the work functions of the emitter and collector materials, and some key parameters such as the net current density of the VTSC, operating temperatures of the emitter and collector, vacuum gap between the emitter and the collector, and area ratio of the absorber to the emitter are optimally determined. Furthermore, the effects of the work functions and the concentration ratio of the solar irradiation on the performance of the VTSC are discussed and several parametric selection criteria are obtained

Three-dimensional Core Design of a Super Fast Reactor with a High Power Density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Liangzhi; Oka, Yoshiaki; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Ikejiri, Satoshi; Ju, Haitao

2010-01-01

The SuperCritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) pursues high power density to reduce its capital cost. The fast spectrum SCWR, called a super fast reactor, can be designed with a higher power density than thermal spectrum SCWR. The mechanism of increasing the average power density of the super fast reactor is studied theoretically and numerically. Some key parameters affecting the average power density, including fuel pin outer diameter, fuel pitch, power peaking factor, and the fraction of seed assemblies, are analyzed and optimized to achieve a more compact core. Based on those sensitivity analyses, a compact super fast reactor is successfully designed with an average power density of 294.8 W/cm 3 . The core characteristics are analyzed by using three-dimensional neutronics/thermal-hydraulics coupling method. Numerical results show that all of the design criteria and goals are satisfied

Temperature dependence of photon-enhanced thermionic emission from GaAs surface with nonequilibrium Cs overlayers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhuravlev, A.G. [Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Pr. Lavrentieva, 13, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova, 2, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Alperovich, V.L., E-mail: alper@isp.nsc.ru [Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Pr. Lavrentieva, 13, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova, 2, 630090 Novosibirsk (Russian Federation)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • Electronic properties of Cs/GaAs surface are studied at elevated temperatures. • Heating to ∼100 °C strongly affects photoemission current and surface band bending. • For θ < 0.4 ML photoemission current relaxation is due to band bending. • A spectral proof of the PETE process is obtained at Cs/GaAs thermal cycling. - Abstract: The temperature influence on the Cs/GaAs surface electronic properties, which determine the photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE), is studied. It was found that heating to moderate temperatures of about 100 °C leads to substantial changes in the magnitude and shape of Cs coverage dependences of photoemission current and surface band bending, along with the changes of relaxation kinetics after Cs deposition. A spectral proof of the PETE process is obtained under thermal cycling of the Cs/GaAs surface with 0.45 monolayer (ML) of Cs.

The annihilation spectrum of relatiVistic electron-positron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aragonyan, F.A.; Atoyan, A.M.; Syunyaev, R.A.

1980-01-01

The annihilation spectrum of isotropically distributed monoenergetic electrons and positrons is obtained. The spectrum of the (e + e - ) plasma is analyzed in a large range of plasma temperatures. The comparison of transitions peratures. The comparison of transitions intensities of annihilation radiation and bremsstrahlung shows that for temperatures kT 2 (e + e - ) plasma is cooled mainly due to annihilation. The case of the fast positron annihilation on the rest electrons also considered. The possible astrophysical applications are discussed [ru

A Novel Approach to Resonant Absorption of the Fast Magnetohydrodynamic Eigenmodes of a Coronal Arcade

Science.gov (United States)

Hindman, Bradley W.; Jain, Rekha

2018-05-01

The arched field lines forming coronal arcades are often observed to undulate as magnetohydrodynamic waves propagate both across and along the magnetic field. These waves are most likely a combination of resonantly coupled fast magnetoacoustic waves and Alfvén waves. The coupling results in resonant absorption of the fast waves, converting fast wave energy into Alfvén waves. The fast eigenmodes of the arcade have proven difficult to compute or derive analytically, largely because of the mathematical complexity that the coupling introduces. When a traditional spectral decomposition is employed, the discrete spectrum associated with the fast eigenmodes is often subsumed into the continuous Alfvén spectrum. Thus fast eigenmodes become collective modes or quasi-modes. Here we present a spectral decomposition that treats the eigenmodes as having real frequencies but complex wavenumbers. Using this procedure we derive dispersion relations, spatial damping rates, and eigenfunctions for the resonant, fast eigenmodes of the arcade. We demonstrate that resonant absorption introduces a fast mode that would not exist otherwise. This new mode is heavily damped by resonant absorption, travelling only a few wavelengths before losing most of its energy.

Some neutronics of innovative subcritical assembly with fast neutron spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiyavitskaya, H.; Fokov, Yu.; Rutkovskaya, Ch.; Sadovich, S.; Kasuk, D.; Gohar, Y.; Bolshinsky, I.

2013-01-01

Conclusion: • New assembly can be used to: • develop the experimental techniques and adapt the existing ones for monitoring the sub-criticality level, neutron spectra measurements, etc; • study the spatial kinetics of sub-critical and critical systems with fast neutron spectra; • measure the transmutation reaction rates of minor-actinides etc

Nonuniform fast Fourier transform method for numerical diffraction simulation on tilted planes.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Yu; Tang, Xiahui; Qin, Yingxiong; Peng, Hao; Wang, Wei; Zhong, Lijing

2016-10-01

The method, based on the rotation of the angular spectrum in the frequency domain, is generally used for the diffraction simulation between the tilted planes. Due to the rotation of the angular spectrum, the interval between the sampling points in the Fourier domain is not even. For the conventional fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based methods, a spectrum interpolation is needed to get the approximate sampling value on the equidistant sampling points. However, due to the numerical error caused by the spectrum interpolation, the calculation accuracy degrades very quickly as the rotation angle increases. Here, the diffraction propagation between the tilted planes is transformed into a problem about the discrete Fourier transform on the uneven sampling points, which can be evaluated effectively and precisely through the nonuniform fast Fourier transform method (NUFFT). The most important advantage of this method is that the conventional spectrum interpolation is avoided and the high calculation accuracy can be guaranteed for different rotation angles, even when the rotation angle is close to π/2. Also, its calculation efficiency is comparable with that of the conventional FFT-based methods. Numerical examples as well as a discussion about the calculation accuracy and the sampling method are presented.

Fast Computation of Pulse Height Spectra Using SGRD Code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humbert Philippe

2017-01-01

Full Text Available SGRD (Spectroscopy, Gamma rays, Rapid, Deterministic code is used for fast calculation of the gamma ray spectrum produced by a spherical shielded source and measured by a detector. The photon source lines originate from the radioactive decay of the unstable isotopes. The emission rate and spectrum of these primary sources are calculated using the DARWIN code. The leakage spectrum is separated in two parts, the uncollided component is transported by ray-tracing and the scattered component is calculated using a multigroup discrete ordinates method. The pulsed height spectrum is then simulated by folding the leakage spectrum with the detector response functions which are pre-calculated using MCNP5 code for each considered detector type. An application to the simulation of the gamma spectrum produced by a natural uranium ball coated with plexiglass and measured using a NaI detector is presented.

A Simplified Supercritical Fast Reactor with Thorium Fuel

OpenAIRE

Peng Zhang; Kan Wang; Ganglin Yu

2014-01-01

Super-Critical water-cooled Fast Reactor (SCFR) is a feasible option for the Gen-IV SCWR designs, in which much less moderator and thus coolant are needed for transferring the fission heat from the core compared with the traditional LWRs. The fast spectrum of SCFR is useful for fuel breeding and thorium utilization, which is then beneficial for enhancing the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle. A SCFR core is constructed in this work, with the aim of simplifying the mechanical structure ...

Operation of the APS rf gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewellen, J. W.

1998-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) has a thermionic-cathode rf gun system capable of providing beam to the APS linac. The gun system consists of a 1.6-cell thermionic-cathode rf gun, a fast kicker for beam current control, and an alpha magnet for bunch compression and injection into the APS linac line. This system is intended for use both as an injector for positron creation, and as a first beam source for the Low-Energy Undulator Test Line (LEUTL) project [1]. The first measured performance characteristics of the gun are presented.

Homogeneous fast reactor benchmark testing of CENDL-2 and ENDF/B-6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Guisheng

1995-01-01

How to choose correct weighting spectrum has been studied to produce multigroup constants for fast reactor benchmark calculations. A correct weighting option makes us obtain satisfying results of K eff and central reaction rate ratios for nine fast reactor benchmark testings of CENDL-2 and ENDF/B-6. (4 tabs., 2 figs.)

Development of a thermionic magnicon amplifier at 11.4 GHz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gold, S.H.; Hafizi, B.; Fliflet, A.W.; Kinkead, A.K.; True, R.

1997-01-01

The magnicon is a scanning-beam microwave amplifier tube that is being developed as an rf source for the proposed TeV Next Linear Collider. In it, a solid electron beam is spun up to high transverse momentum in a series of deflection cavities containing synchronously rotating TM modes, and then spun down again in an output cavity whose mode is synchronous with that of the deflection cavities. A recent magnicon experiment at NRL, using a ∼ 650 kV, 225 A, 5.5-mm-diam. electron beam produced from a cold cathode driven by a single-shot Marx generator, demonstrated 14 MW (±3 dB) at 11.12 GHz with 105 efficiency in the synchronous magnicon mode, but was limited by plasma loading in the deflection cavities to a regime in which the last cavity of the deflection system (the penultimate cavity) was unstable. A new 11.4 GHz rep-rated thermionic magnicon experiment is being assembled, using an advanced ultra-high-convergence electron gun driven by a 10 Hz, 1.5 microsecond modulator top produce a 500 kV, 210 A, 2-mm diameter electron beam. The magnicon circuit has been optimized for minimum surface rf fields and maximum efficiency, and will be engineered for high temperature bakeout and high vacuum operation. This experiment should begin operation in the Summer of 1997. The predicted power is 60 MW at ∼ 60% efficiency

Spectrum image analysis tool - A flexible MATLAB solution to analyze EEL and CL spectrum images.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Franz-Philipp; Hofer, Ferdinand; Krenn, Joachim R

2017-02-01

Spectrum imaging techniques, gaining simultaneously structural (image) and spectroscopic data, require appropriate and careful processing to extract information of the dataset. In this article we introduce a MATLAB based software that uses three dimensional data (EEL/CL spectrum image in dm3 format (Gatan Inc.'s DigitalMicrograph ® )) as input. A graphical user interface enables a fast and easy mapping of spectral dependent images and position dependent spectra. First, data processing such as background subtraction, deconvolution and denoising, second, multiple display options including an EEL/CL moviemaker and, third, the applicability on a large amount of data sets with a small work load makes this program an interesting tool to visualize otherwise hidden details. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linearized spectrum correlation analysis for line emission measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishizawa, T; Nornberg, M D; Den Hartog, D J; Sarff, J S

2017-08-01

A new spectral analysis method, Linearized Spectrum Correlation Analysis (LSCA), for charge exchange and passive ion Doppler spectroscopy is introduced to provide a means of measuring fast spectral line shape changes associated with ion-scale micro-instabilities. This analysis method is designed to resolve the fluctuations in the emission line shape from a stationary ion-scale wave. The method linearizes the fluctuations around a time-averaged line shape (e.g., Gaussian) and subdivides the spectral output channels into two sets to reduce contributions from uncorrelated fluctuations without averaging over the fast time dynamics. In principle, small fluctuations in the parameters used for a line shape model can be measured by evaluating the cross spectrum between different channel groupings to isolate a particular fluctuating quantity. High-frequency ion velocity measurements (100-200 kHz) were made by using this method. We also conducted simulations to compare LSCA with a moment analysis technique under a low photon count condition. Both experimental and synthetic measurements demonstrate the effectiveness of LSCA.

Development of a coherent transition radiation-based bunch length monitor with application to the APS RF thermionic gun beam optimization

CERN Document Server

Lumpkin, Alex H; Berg, W J; Borland, M; Happek, U; Lewellen, J W; Sereno, N S

2001-01-01

We report further development of an EPICS-compatible bunch length monitor based on the autocorrelation of coherent transition radiation (CTR). In this case the monitor was used to optimize the beam from the S-band thermionic RF gun on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) linac. Bunch lengths of 400-500 fs (FWHM) were measured in the core of the beam, which corresponded to about 100-A peak current in each micropulse. The dependence of the CTR signal on the square of the beam charge for the beam core was demonstrated. We also report the first use of the beam accelerated to 217 MeV for successful visible wavelength SASE FEL experiments.

Homogeneous fast reactor benchmark testing of CENDL-2 and ENDF/B-6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Guisheng

1995-11-01

How to choose correct weighting spectrum has been studied to produce multigroup constants for fast reactor benchmark calculations. A correct weighting option makes us obtain satisfying results of K eff and central reaction rate ratios for nine fast reactor benchmark testing of CENDL-2 and ENDF/B-6. (author). 8 refs, 2 figs, 4 tabs

Fast neutron dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeLuca, P.M. Jr.; Pearson, D.W.

1992-01-01

This progress report concentrates on two major areas of dosimetry research: measurement of fast neutron kerma factors for several elements for monochromatic and white spectrum neutron fields and determination of the response of thermoluminescent phosphors to various ultra-soft X-ray energies and beta-rays. Dr. Zhixin Zhou from the Shanghai Institute of Radiation Medicine, People's Republic of China brought with him special expertise in the fabrication and use of ultra-thin TLD materials. Such materials are not available in the USA. The rather unique properties of these materials were investigated during this grant period

Resting-State Oscillatory Activity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Cornew, Lauren; Roberts, Timothy P. L.; Blaskey, Lisa; Edgar, J. Christopher

2012-01-01

Neural oscillatory anomalies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) suggest an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance; however, the nature and clinical relevance of these anomalies are unclear. Whole-cortex magnetoencephalography data were collected while 50 children (27 with ASD, 23 controls) underwent an eyes-closed resting-state exam. A Fast Fourier…

Determining of the intermediate neutron spectrum in fast neutron field at the RB reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokcic-Kostic, M.; Pesic, M.; Antic, D.

1987-01-01

The activation method for intermediate neutron spectrum determination is given in this paper. The intermediate neutron spectrum in experimental fuel channel (EFC) at the RB reactor is determined om the basis of this method. The results of measurements are treated with PRAG code and will be treated with KRIFIT and TENET codes that are also developed. (author)

An improved fast neutron radiography quantitative measurement method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsubayashi, Masahito; Hibiki, Takashi; Mishima, Kaichiro; Yoshii, Koji; Okamoto, Koji

2004-01-01

The validity of a fast neutron radiography quantification method, the Σ-scaling method, which was originally proposed for thermal neutron radiography was examined with Monte Carlo calculations and experiments conducted at the YAYOI fast neutron source reactor. Water and copper were selected as comparative samples for a thermal neutron radiography case and a dense object, respectively. Although different characteristics on effective macroscopic cross-sections were implied by the simulation, the Σ-scaled experimental results with the fission neutron spectrum cross-sections were well fitted to the measurements for both the water and copper samples. This indicates that the Σ-scaling method could be successfully adopted for quantitative measurements in fast neutron radiography

Use of fast-spectrum reactors for actinide burning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Yoon I.

1991-01-01

Finally, Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) pyroprocessing has been developed only in recent years and it appears to have potential as a relatively uncomplicated, effective actinide recovery process. In fact, actinide recycling occurs naturally in the IFR fuel cycle. Although still very much developmental, the entire IFR fuel cycle will be demonstrated on prototype-scale in conjunction with the EBR-II and its refurbished Fuel Cycle Facility starting in late 1991. A logical extension to this work, therefore, is to establish whether this IFR pyrochemical processing can be applied to extracting actinides from LWR spent fuel. This paper summarizes current thinking on the rationale for actinide recycle, its ramifications on the geologic repository and the current high-level waste management plans, and the necessary development programs. 4 figs., 4 tabs

Design of a Multi-Spectrum CANDU-based Reactor, MSCR, with 37-element fuel bundles using SERPENT code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, M.S.; Bonin, H.W.; Lewis, B.J.; Chan, P.

2015-01-01

The burning of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium from dismantled nuclear warhead material in the new design nuclear power plants represents an important step towards nonproliferation. The blending of these highly enriched uranium and plutonium with with uranium dioxide from the spent fuel of CANDU reactors, or mixing it with depleted uranium would need a very long time to dispose of this material. Consequently, considering that more efficient transmutation of actinides occurs in fast neutron reactors, a novel Multi-Spectrum CANDU Reactor, has been designed on the basis of the CANDU6 reactor with two concentric regions. The simulations of the MSCR were carried out using the SERPENT code. The inner or fast neutron spectrum core is fuelled by different levels of enriched uranium oxides. The helium is used as a coolant in the fast neutron core. The outer or the thermal neutron spectrum core is fuelled with natural uranium with heavy water as both moderator and coolant. Both cores use 37- element fuel bundles. The size of the two cores and the percentage level of enrichment of the fresh fuel in the fast core were optimized according to the criticality safety of the whole reactor. The excess reactivity, the regeneration factor, radial and axial flux shapes of the MSCR reactor were calculated at different of the concentration of fissile isotope 235 U of uranium fuel at the fast neutron spectrum core. The effect of variation of the concentration of the fissile isotope on the fluxes in both cores at each energy bin has been studied. (author)

Design of a Multi-Spectrum CANDU-based Reactor, MSCR, with 37-element fuel bundles using SERPENT code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, M.S.; Bonin, H.W.; Lewis, B.J.; Chan, P., E-mail: mohamed.hussein@rmc.ca, E-mail: bonin-h@rmc.ca, E-mail: lewis-b@rmc.ca, E-mail: Paul.Chan@rmc.ca [Royal Military College of Canada, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Kingston, ON (Canada)

2015-07-01

The burning of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium from dismantled nuclear warhead material in the new design nuclear power plants represents an important step towards nonproliferation. The blending of these highly enriched uranium and plutonium with with uranium dioxide from the spent fuel of CANDU reactors, or mixing it with depleted uranium would need a very long time to dispose of this material. Consequently, considering that more efficient transmutation of actinides occurs in fast neutron reactors, a novel Multi-Spectrum CANDU Reactor, has been designed on the basis of the CANDU6 reactor with two concentric regions. The simulations of the MSCR were carried out using the SERPENT code. The inner or fast neutron spectrum core is fuelled by different levels of enriched uranium oxides. The helium is used as a coolant in the fast neutron core. The outer or the thermal neutron spectrum core is fuelled with natural uranium with heavy water as both moderator and coolant. Both cores use 37- element fuel bundles. The size of the two cores and the percentage level of enrichment of the fresh fuel in the fast core were optimized according to the criticality safety of the whole reactor. The excess reactivity, the regeneration factor, radial and axial flux shapes of the MSCR reactor were calculated at different of the concentration of fissile isotope {sup 235}U of uranium fuel at the fast neutron spectrum core. The effect of variation of the concentration of the fissile isotope on the fluxes in both cores at each energy bin has been studied. (author)

Measurements of actinide transmutation in the hard spectrum of a fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trybus, C.L.; Collins, P.J.; Maddison, D.W.; Bunde, K.A.; Pallmtag, S.; Palmiotti, G.

1994-01-01

Measurements of fission and capture in 235 U, 238 U, 239 Pu and 237 Np and in their product actinides have been made following irradiation in the metal-fuel core of EBR-II. The reactor has a peak flux around 500keV and the data complement measurements in the softer spectrum of an LMFBR. Irradiations were made at the same time for a set of standard dosimeter samples. These provide a test of calculated spectra and are also used for validation of steel activations and calculated atomic displacement rates. Calculation were made with modem transport codes using ENDF/B-5.2 data. Comparisons are made, using a simple homogeneous model, producing a similar spectrum, using ENDF/B-6.2 and JEFF-2 data

Characterization of sputter deposited thin film scandate cathodes for miniaturized thermionic converter applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zavadil, Kevin R.; Ruffner, Judith H.; King, Donald B.

1999-01-01

We have successfully developed a method for fabricating scandate-based thermionic emitters in thin film form. The primary goal of our effort is to develop thin film emitters that exhibit low work function, high intrinsic electron emissivity, minimum thermal activation properties and that can be readily incorporated into a microgap converter. Our approach has been to incorporate BaSrO into a Sc2O3 matrix using rf sputtering to produce thin films. Diode testing has shown the resulting films to be electron emissive at temperatures as low as 900 K with current densities of 0.1 mA.cm-2 at 1100 K and saturation voltages. We calculate an approximate maximum work function of 1.8 eV and an apparent emission constant (Richardson's constant, A*) of 36 mA.cm-2.K-2. Film compositional and structural analysis shows that a significant surface and subsurface alkaline earth hydroxide phase can form and probably explains the limited utilization and stability of Ba and its surface complexes. The flexibility inherent in sputter deposition suggests alternate strategies for eliminating undesirable phases and optimizing thin film emitter properties.

Gas Cooled Fast Reactors: Recent advances and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poette, C.; Guedeney, P.; Stainsby, R.; Mikityuk, K.; Knol, S.

2013-01-01

Gas Cooled Fast Reactors: Conclusion - GFR: an attractive longer term option allowing to combine Fast spectrum & Helium coolant benefits; • Innovative SiC fuel cladding solutions were found; • A first design confirming the encouraging potential of the reactor system Design improvements are nevertheless recommended and interesting tracks have been identified (core & system design, DHR system); • The GFR requires large R&D needs to confirm its potential (fuel & core materials, specific Helium technology); • ALLEGRO prototype studies are the first step and are drawing the R&D priorities

Neutron spectrum measurement using rise-time discrimination method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Zhiping; Suzuki, C.; Kosako, T.; Ma Jizeng

2009-01-01

PSD method can be used to measure the fast neutron spectrum in n/γ mixed field. A set of assemblies for measuring the pulse height distribution of neutrons is built up,based on a large volume NE213 liquid scintillator and standard NIM circuits,through the rise-time discrimination method. After that,the response matrix is calculated using Monte Carlo method. The energy calibration of the pulse height distribution is accomplished using 60 Co radioisotope. The neutron spectrum of the mono-energetic accelerator neutron source is achieved by unfolding process. Suggestions for further improvement of the system are presented at last. (authors)

Neutron energy spectrum influence on irradiation hardening and microstructural development of tungsten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukuda, Makoto, E-mail: makoto.fukuda@qse.tohoku.ac.jp [Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579 (Japan); Kiran Kumar, N.A.P.; Koyanagi, Takaaki; Garrison, Lauren M. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 (United States); Snead, Lance L. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139 (United States); Katoh, Yutai [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 (United States); Hasegawa, Akira [Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8579 (Japan)

2016-10-15

Neutron irradiation to single crystal pure tungsten was performed in the mixed spectrum High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). To investigate the influences of neutron energy spectrum, the microstructure and irradiation hardening were compared with previous data obtained from the irradiation campaigns in the mixed spectrum Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) and the sodium-cooled fast reactor Joyo. The irradiation temperatures were in the range of ∼90–∼800 °C and fast neutron fluences were 0.02–9.00 × 10{sup 25} n/m{sup 2} (E > 0.1 MeV). Post irradiation evaluation included Vickers hardness measurements and transmission electron microscopy. The hardness and microstructure changes exhibited a clear dependence on the neutron energy spectrum. The hardness appeared to increase with increasing thermal neutron flux when fast fluence exceeds 1 × 10{sup 25} n/m{sup 2} (E > 0.1 MeV). Irradiation induced precipitates considered to be χ- and σ-phases were observed in samples irradiated to >1 × 10{sup 25} n/m{sup 2} (E > 0.1 MeV), which were pronounced at high dose and due to the very high thermal neutron flux of HFIR. Although the irradiation hardening mainly caused by defects clusters in a low dose regime, the transmutation-induced precipitation appeared to impose additional significant hardening of the tungsten. - Highlights: • The microstructure and irradiation hardening of single crystal pure W irradiated in HFIR was investigated. • The neutron energy spectrum influence was evaluated by comparing the HFIR results with previous work in Joyo and JMTR. • In the dose range up to ∼1 dpa, the neutron energy spectrum influence of irradiation hardening was not clear. • In the dose range above 1 dpa, the neutron energy influence on irradiation hardening and microstructural development was clearly observed. • The irradiation induced precipitates caused significant irradiation hardening of pure W irradiated in HFIR.

Development of the unfolding procedures in fast neutron scintillation spectrometry; Razvoj unfolding procedura u scintilacionoj spektrometriji brzih neutrona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marinkovic, P [Elektrotehnicki fakultet, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

1988-07-01

Two unfolding procedures have been developed for obtaining fast neutron spectrum from proton-recoil spectrum assigned for spectrometry with organic scintillators. First is the method of differentiation of proton-recoil spectrum, and the second is the method based on solution of integral equation of Fredholm of first kind. (author)

Runs 800, 813, 842 and physics runs from 18.1.77 to 21.5.77, Development of a new set-up for working line measurements including a Fast Fourier Transform Spectrum Analyser and using weak beam excitiation with broad-band noise

CERN Document Server

Borer, J

1977-01-01

Runs 800, 813, 842 and physics runs from 18.1.77 to 21.5.77, Development of a new set-up for working line measurements including a Fast Fourier Transform Spectrum Analyser and using weak beam excitiation with broad-band noise

Fast Computation Methods Research for Two Dimensional MUSIC Spectrum Based on Circular Array%圆阵二维 MUSIC 谱快速计算方法研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

杜政东; 魏平; 赵菲; 尹文禄

2015-01-01

针对二维波达方向估计时 MUSIC 谱的快速计算问题，研究了均匀圆阵变换到虚拟线阵的 MUSIC 算法（UCA-ULA-MUSIC）、流形分离 MUSIC 算法（MS-MUSIC）、傅立叶域线性求根 MUSIC 算法（FD-Line-Search-MU-SIC）、基于 FFT 的2n 元均匀圆阵 MUSIC 算法（2n-UCA-FFT-MUSIC）与基于 FFT 的任意圆阵 MUSIC 算法（ACA-FFT-MUSIC）。对各种算法快速计算二维 MUSIC 谱的实现步骤进行了总结。在此基础上，给出了各算法计算二维MUSIC 谱的计算复杂度表达式，并以传统方法为参考，对比了各种快速算法相对于传统方法的计算复杂度比值；同时，针对不同的阵列形式，对适用的快速算法的测向性能进行了仿真对比。根据分析和对比的结果，指出 MS-MUSIC 算法与 ACA-FFT-MUSIC 算法具有更高的工程应用价值，由具体的情况单独或分频段联合使用 MS-MUSIC算法与 ACA-FFT-MUSIC 算法，可以使测向系统较好的兼顾测向性能与时效性。%According to the fast computation problem of MUSIC spectrum in two dimensional direction of arrival estimation, the fast algorithms by manifold transformation or spectrum function transformation are studied.The implementation steps of computation method for two dimensional MUSIC spectrum by these algorithms are summarized.Furthermore,expressions for computational complexity of discussed algorithms in computing two dimensional MUSIC spectrum are presented.With refer-ence to the conventional method,the ratio of computational complexity of discussed algorithms is compared.Meanwhile,for different circular arrays,the direction finding performance of applicable algorithms is compared by simulation.It is proved that the MUSIC algorithm based on Manifold Separation (MS-MUSIC)and Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT)which suits to arbitrary circular array (ACA-FFT-MUSIC)have higher engineering value according to the results of analysis and com-parison.The performance and

Advanced Safeguards Approaches for New Fast Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durst, Philip C.; Therios, Ike; Bean, Robert; Dougan, A.; Boyer, Brian; Wallace, Rick L.; Ehinger, Michael H.; Kovacic, Don N.; Tolk, K.

2007-01-01

This third report in the series reviews possible safeguards approaches for new fast reactors in general, and the ABR in particular. Fast-neutron spectrum reactors have been used since the early 1960s on an experimental and developmental level, generally with fertile blanket fuels to 'breed' nuclear fuel such as plutonium. Whether the reactor is designed to breed plutonium, or transmute and 'burn' actinides depends mainly on the design of the reactor neutron reflector and the whether the blanket fuel is 'fertile' or suitable for transmutation. However, the safeguards issues are very similar, since they pertain mainly to the receipt, shipment and storage of fresh and spent plutonium and actinide-bearing 'TRU'-fuel. For these reasons, the design of existing fast reactors and details concerning how they have been safeguarded were studied in developing advanced safeguards approaches for the new fast reactors. In this regard, the design of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II 'EBR-II' at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was of interest, because it was designed as a collocated fast reactor with a pyrometallurgical reprocessing and fuel fabrication line--a design option being considered for the ABR. Similarly, the design of the Fast Flux Facility (FFTF) on the Hanford Site was studied, because it was a successful prototype fast reactor that ran for two decades to evaluate fuels and the design for commercial-scale fast reactors

Study on Doppler coefficient for metallic fuel fast reactor added hydrogeneous moderator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirakawa, Naohiro; Iwasaki, Tomohiko; Tsujimoto, Kazuhumi [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Osugi, Toshitaka; Okajima, Shigeaki; Andoh, Masaki; Nemoto, Tatsuo; Mukaiyama, Takehiko

1998-01-01

A series of mock-up experiments for moderator added metallic fast reactor core was carried out at FCA to obtain the experimental verification for improvement of reactivity coefficients. Softened neutron spectrum increases Doppler effect by a factor of 2, and flatter adjoint neutron spectrum decreases Na void effect by a factor of 0.6 when hydrogen to heavy metal atomic number ratio is increased from 0.02 to 0.13. The experimental results are analyzed with SLALOM and CITATION-FBR, which is the standard design code system for a fast reactor at JAERI, and SRAC95 and CITATION-FBR. The present code system gives generally good agreement with the experimental results, especially by the use of the latter, the dependence of the Doppler effect to the hydrogen to fuel element atomic number density ratio is disappeared. Therefore, it looks possible to use the present code system for the conceptual design of a fast reactor system with hydrogeneous materials. (author)

Device for frequency modulation of a laser output spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Beene, J.R.; Bemis, C.E. Jr.

1984-07-17

A device is provided for fast frequency modulating the output spectrum of multimode lasers and single frequency lasers that are not actively stabilized. A piezoelectric transducer attached to a laser cavity mirror is driven in an unconventional manner to excite resonance vibration of the tranducer to rapidly, cyclicly change the laser cavity length. The result is a cyclic sweeping of the output wavelength sufficient to fill the gaps in the laser output frequency spectrum. When a laser is used to excite atoms or molecules, complete absorption line coverage is made possible.

Influence of Neutron Spectra Unfolding Method on Fast Neutron Dose Determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinkovic, P.

1991-01-01

Full text: Accuracy of knowing the fast neutron spectra has great influence on equivalent dose determination. In usual fast neutron spectrum measurements with scintillation detectors based on proton recoil, the main difficulty is confidence of unfolding method. In former ones variance of obtained result is usually great and negative values are possible too, which does means that we don't now exactly is obtained neutron spectrum real one. The new unfolding method based on Shanon's information theory, which gives non-negative spectrum and relative low variance, is obtained and appropriate numerical code for application in fast neutron spectrometry based on proton recoil is realized. In this method principle of maximum entropy and maximum likelihood are used together. Unknown group density distribution functions, which are considered as desired normalized mean neutron group flux, are constl u cted using only constrain of knowing mean value. Obtained distributions are consistent to available information (counts in NCA from proton recoil), while being maximally noncommittal with respect to all other unknown circumstances. For maximum likelihood principle, distribution functions around mean value of counts in the channels of MCA are taken to be Gauss function shape. Optimal non-negative solution is searched by means of Lagrange parameter method. Nonlinear system of equations, is solved using gradient and Newton iterative algorithm. Error covariance matrix is obtained too. (author)

Pulsed White Spectrum Neutron Generator for Explosive Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, Michael J.; Miller, Gill T.; Reijonen, Jani; Ji, Qing; Andresen, Nord; Gicquel, Frederic; Kavlas, Taneli; Leung, Ka-Ngo; Kwan, Joe

2008-01-01

Successful explosive material detection in luggage and similar sized containers is a critical issue in securing the safety of all airline passengers. Tensor Technology Inc. has recently developed a methodology that will detect explosive compounds with pulsed fast neutron transmission spectroscopy. In this scheme, tritium beams will be used to generate neutrons with a broad energy spectrum as governed by the T(t,2n)4He fission reaction that produces 0-9 MeV neutrons. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in collaboration with Tensor Technology Inc., has designed and fabricated a pulsed white-spectrum neutron source for this application. The specifications of the neutron source are demanding and stringent due to the requirements of high yield and fast pulsing neutron emission, and sealed tube, tritium operation. In a unique co-axial geometry, the ion source uses ten parallel rf induction antennas to externally couple power into a toroidal discharge chamber. There are 20 ion beam extraction slits and 3 concentric electrode rings to shape and accelerate the ion beam into a titanium cone target. Fast neutron pulses are created by using a set of parallel-plate deflectors switching between +-1500 volts and deflecting the ion beams across a narrow slit. The generator is expected to achieve 5 ns neutron pulses at tritium ion beam energies between 80-120 kV. First experiments demonstrated ion source operation and successful beam pulsing

Measurement of the fast neutron flux in the MNSR inner irradiation site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattab, K.

2007-01-01

The WIMSD4 code was used to calculate the fast neutron flux spectrum and the fast neutron fission cross sections for 238 U, using six energy groups ranging from 0.5 to 10 MeV. These results, with the measured radioactivities of the 140 Ba, 131 I, 103 Ru, 95 Zr and 97 Zr fission products emerging from the fission of the 238 U foil covered with a cadmium filter, were used to measure the fast neutron flux in the Syrian MNSR inner irradiation site. (author)

A PVTC system integrating photon-enhanced thermionic emission and methane reforming for efficient solar power generation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wenjia Li; Hongsheng Wang; Yong Hao

2017-01-01

A new photovoltaic-thermochemical (PVTC) conceptual system integrating photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) and methane steam reforming is proposed.Major novelty of the system lies in its potential adaptivity to primary fuels (e.g.methane) and high efficiencies of photovoltaic and thermochemical power generation,both of which result from its operation at much elevated temperatures (700-1000 ℃)compared with conventional photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems.Analysis shows that an overall power generation efficiency of 45.3％ and a net solar-to-electric efficiency of 39.1％ could be reached at an operating temperature of 750 ℃,after considering major losses during solar energy capture and conversion processes.The system is also featured by high solar share (37％) in the total power output,as well as high energy storage capability and very low CO2 emissions,both enabled by the integration of methane reforming with photovoltaic generation at high temperatures.

Fast critical experiments in FCA and their analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirota, Jitsuya

1984-02-01

JAERI Fast Critical Facility FCA went critical for the first time in April, 1967. Since then, critical experiments and their analysis were carried out on thirty-five assemblies until march, 1982. This report summarizes many achievements obtained in these fifteen years and points out disagreements observed between the calculation and experiment for further studies. A series of mock-up experiments for Experimental Fast Reactor JOYO, a theoretical and numerical study of adjustment of group constants by using integral data and a development of proton-recoil counter system for fast neutron spectrum measurement won high praise. Studies of Doppler effect of structural materials, effect of fission product accumulation on sodium-void worth, axially heterogeneous core and actinide cross sections attracted world-side attention. Significant contributions were also made to Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor MONJU through the partial mock-up experiments. Disagreements between the calculation and experiment were observed in the following items; reaction rate distribution and reactivity worth of B 4 C absorber in radial blanket, central reactivity worth in core with reflector, plate/pin fuel heterogeneity effect on criticality, sodium-void effect in central core region, Doppler effect of structural materials, core neutron spectrum near large resonances of iron and oxygen, effect of fission product accumulation on sodium-void worth, physics property of heterogeneous core, reactivity change resulted from fuel slumping and so on. Further efforts should be made to solve these disagreements through recalculating the experimental results with newly developed data and methods and carrying out the experiments intended to identify the cause of disagreement. (author)

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Fast Neutron Spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Dam, H.; Kleijn, H. R. [Reactor Instituut, Delft (Netherlands)

1968-04-15

The reactor physics division of the Inter-Academic Reactor Institute at Delft is concentrating its efforts in the field of fast reactor physics on problems of a more fundamental nature. The object of the programme is to determine experimentally a number of microscopic reactor physics parameters such as conversion potentials, fission ratios and Doppler coefficients for simple geometries and material compositions. Because of the extreme importance of knowledge of the neutron spectrum for the interpretation of the results, attention has initially been concentrated on both the measurement and the calculation of fast neutron spectra. The transport of neutrons in absorbing and non-absorbing heavy atom materials is studied by solving the Boltzmann equation. Both isotropic and anisotropic scattering are considered. Anisotropic scattering is treated by the P{sub n}-approximation, while flux-anisotropy is handled with the S{sub N}-method. In the code FAST-DELFT, scattering is treated up to the P{sub 4} component, a further extension of which is useless because of the lack of available cross-section data. By using this method, the effect of scattering anisotropy on the spectrum formation has been studied. In addition the influence of group cross-section inaccuracies was determined. The experimental work has been concentrated on methods to determine in-core spectra. Using home-made proportional counters with gamma-ray discrimination provisions fast neutron spectra have been measured in simple geometries. These experiments were complemented by foil measurements in the lower energy region. The results of this work are presented in this paper. (author)

The physics of fast Z pinches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryutov, D.D.; Derzon, M.S.; Matzen, M.K.

1998-07-01

The spectacular progress made during the last few years in reaching high energy densities in fast implosions of annular current sheaths (fast Z pinches) opens new possibilities for a broad spectrum of experiments, from x-ray generation to controlled thermonuclear fusion and astrophysics. Presently Z pinches are the most intense laboratory X ray sources (1.8 MJ in 5 ns from a volume 2 mm in diameter and 2 cm tall). Powers in excess of 200 TW have been obtained. This warrants summarizes the present knowledge of physics that governs the behavior of radiating current-carrying plasma in fast Z-pinches. This survey covers essentially all aspects of the physics of fast Z pinches: initiation, instabilities of the early stage, magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the implosion phase, formation of a transient quasi-equilibrium near the stagnation point, and rebound. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of hydrodynamic instabilities governing the implosion symmetry. Possible ways of mitigating these instabilities are discussed. Non-magnetohydrodynamic effects (anomalous resistivity, generation of particle beams, etc.) are summarized. Various applications of fast Z pinches are briefly described. Scaling laws governing development of more powerful Z pinches are presented. The survey contains 52 figures and nearly 300 references

The Physics of Fast Z Pinches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

RYUTOV,D.D.; DERZON,MARK S.; MATZEN,M. KEITH

1999-10-25

The spectacular progress made during the last few years in reaching high energy densities in fast implosions of annular current sheaths (fast Z pinches) opens new possibilities for a broad spectrum of experiments, from x-ray generation to controlled thermonuclear fusion and astrophysics. Presently Z pinches are the most intense laboratory X ray sources (1.8 MJ in 5 ns from a volume 2 mm in diameter and 2 cm tall). Powers in excess of 200 TW have been obtained. This warrants summarizing the present knowledge of physics that governs the behavior of radiating current-carrying plasma in fast Z pinches. This survey covers essentially all aspects of the physics of fast Z pinches: initiation, instabilities of the early stage, magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the implosion phase, formation of a transient quasi-equilibrium near the stagnation point, and rebound. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of hydrodynamic instabilities governing the implosion symmetry. Possible ways of mitigating these instabilities are discussed. Non-magnetohydrodynamic effects (anomalous resistivity, generation of particle beams, etc.) are summarized. Various applications of fast Z pinches are briefly described. Scaling laws governing development of more powerful Z pinches are presented. The survey contains 36 figures and more than 300 references.

Simplified procedures for fast reactor fuel cycle and sensitivity analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badruzzaman, A.

1979-01-01

The Continuous Slowing Down-Integral Transport Theory has been extended to perform criticality calculations in a Fast Reactor Core-blanket system achieving excellent prediction of the spectrum and the eigenvalue. The integral transport parameters did not need recalculation with source iteration and were found to be relatively constant with exposure. Fuel cycle parameters were accurately predicted when these were not varied, thus reducing a principal potential penalty of the Intergal Transport approach where considerable effort may be required to calculate transport parameters in more complicated geometries. The small variation of the spectrum in the central core region, and its weak dependence on exposure for both this region, the core blanket interface and blanket region led to the extension and development of inexpensive simplified procedures to complement exact methods. These procedures gave accurate predictions of the key fuel cycle parameters such as cost and their sensitivity to variation in spectrum-averaged and multigroup cross sections. They also predicted the implications of design variation on these parameters very well. The accuracy of these procedures and their use in analyzing a wide variety of sensitivities demonstrate the potential utility of survey calculations in Fast Reactor analysis and fuel management

Apparatus and method for detecting contraband using fast neutron activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gozani, T.; Sawa, Z.P.; Shea, P.M.

1992-01-01

This patent describes a method of detecting contraband within an object under investigation. It comprises: generating a beam of case neutrons; irradiating the object with the beam of fast neutrons, the fast neutrons interacting with atomic nuclei of the elements contained within the object to produce a gamma-ray spectrum having spectral lines characteristic of the elements contained within the object; measuring the spectral lines of the gamma-ray spectrum using a multiplicity of gamma-ray detectors judiciously positioned around the object; detecting the number of neutrons that pass through the object without interacting substantially with atomic nuclei within the object; determining the spatial and density distributions of the atomic nuclei of the elements contained within the object from the measured gamma-ray spectrum obtained from the multiplicity of gamma-ray detectors and the number of neutrons that pass through the object; comparing the measured spatial and density distributions of the atomic nuclei of the elements within the object with known spatial and density distributions of atomic nuclei for elements characteristic of contraband; and determining that contraband is present within the object when the comparison indicates a substantial match

CFRMF spectrum update and application to dosimeter cross-section data testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderl, R.A.; Harker, Y.D.; Millsap, D.A.; Rogers, J.W.; Ryskamp, J.M.

1982-01-01

The Coupled Fast Reactivity Measurements Facility (CFRMF) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) is a Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG) benchmark for data testing of dosimetry, fission-product and actinide cross sections important to fast-reactor technology. In this paper we present the results of our work in updating the CFRMF spectrum characterization and in applying CFRMF integral data to testing ENDF/B-V dosimeter cross sections. Updated characterization of the central neutron spectrum includes the results of neutronics calculations with ENDF/B-V nuclear data, the generation of a fine-group spectrum representation for integral data-testing applications, and a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis which provides a flux-spectrum covariance matrix related to uncertainties and correlations in the nuclear data used in a neutronics calculation. Our application of CFRMF integral data to cross section testing has included both conventional integral testing analyses and least-squares-adjustment analyses with the FERRET code. The conventional integral data-testing analysis, based on C/E ratios, indicates discrepancies outside the estimated integral test uncertainty for the 6 Li(n,He), 10 B(n,He), 47 Ti(n,p), 58 Fe(n,γ), 197 Au(n,γ) and 232 Th(n,γ) cross sections. The integral test uncertainty included contributions from the measured integral data and from the spectrum and cross sections used to obtain the calculated integral data. Within the uncertainty and correlation specifications for the input spectrum and dosimeter cross sections, the least-squares-adjustment analysis indicated a high degree of consistency between the measured integral data and the ENDF/B-V dosimeter cross sections for all reactions except 10 B

Studies on the properties of hard-spectrum, actinide fissioning reactors. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, J.B.; Prichard, A.W.; Schofield, P.E.; Robinson, A.H.; Spinrad, B.I.

1980-01-01

It is technically feasible to construct an operable (e.g., safe and stable) reactor to burn waste actinides rapidly. The heart of the concept is a driver core of EBR-II type, with a central radial target zone in which fuel elements, made entirely of waste actinides are exposed. This target fuel undergoes fission, as a result of which actinides are rapidly destroyed. Although the same result could be achieved in more conventionally designed LWR or LMFBR systems, the fast spectrum reactor does a much more efficient job, by virtue of the fact that in both LWR and LMFBR reactors, actinide fission is preceded by several captures before a fissile nuclide is formed. In the fast spectrum reactor that is called ABR (actinide burning reactor), these neutron captures are short-circuited

Advanced Safeguards Approaches for New Fast Reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Durst, Philip C.; Therios, Ike; Bean, Robert; Dougan, A.; Boyer, Brian; Wallace, Rick L.; Ehinger, Michael H.; Kovacic, Don N.; Tolk, K.

2007-12-15

This third report in the series reviews possible safeguards approaches for new fast reactors in general, and the ABR in particular. Fast-neutron spectrum reactors have been used since the early 1960s on an experimental and developmental level, generally with fertile blanket fuels to “breed” nuclear fuel such as plutonium. Whether the reactor is designed to breed plutonium, or transmute and “burn” actinides depends mainly on the design of the reactor neutron reflector and the whether the blanket fuel is “fertile” or suitable for transmutation. However, the safeguards issues are very similar, since they pertain mainly to the receipt, shipment and storage of fresh and spent plutonium and actinide-bearing “TRU”-fuel. For these reasons, the design of existing fast reactors and details concerning how they have been safeguarded were studied in developing advanced safeguards approaches for the new fast reactors. In this regard, the design of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II “EBR-II” at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was of interest, because it was designed as a collocated fast reactor with a pyrometallurgical reprocessing and fuel fabrication line – a design option being considered for the ABR. Similarly, the design of the Fast Flux Facility (FFTF) on the Hanford Site was studied, because it was a successful prototype fast reactor that ran for two decades to evaluate fuels and the design for commercial-scale fast reactors.

Measurement of spectrum at the experimental 6.5 MW reactor in Vinca; Merenje spektra na eksperimentalnom 6,5 MW reaktoru u Vinci

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berovic, N; Boreli, F; Aleksic, N; Dragin, R [Boris Kidric Institute of nuclear sciences, Vinca, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

1961-07-01

Since RA reactor is supplied with horizontal experimental channels which lead directly to the core fast neutron spectrum in the channel does not differ much from the neutron spectrum in the core. Spectrum was measured by 'telescope' for detecting scattered protons. Measuring procedure together with the measured spectrum are presented in this paper.

Fast radio bursts and the stochastic lifetime of black holes in quantum gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Barrau, Aurélien; Moulin, Flora; Martineau, Killian

2018-03-01

Nonperturbative quantum gravity effects might allow a black-to-white hole transition. We revisit this increasingly popular hypothesis by taking into account the fundamentally random nature of the bouncing time. We show that if the primordial mass spectrum of black holes is highly peaked, the expected signal can in fact match the wavelength of the observed fast radio bursts. On the other hand, if the primordial mass spectrum is wide and smooth, clear predictions are suggested and the sensitivity to the shape of the spectrum is studied.

Development of a thermionic magnicon amplifier at 11.4 GHz. Final report for period May 16, 1995 - May 15, 2001

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gold, Steven H.; Fliflet, Arne W.

2001-01-01

This is the final report on the research program ''Development of a Thermionic Magnicon Amplifier at 11.4 GHz,'' which was carried out by the Plasma Physics Division of the Naval Research Laboratory. Its goal was to develop a high-power, frequency-doubling X-band magnicon amplifier, an advanced scanning-beam amplifier, for use in future linear colliders. The final design parameters were 61 MW at 11.424 GHz, 59 dB gain, 59% efficiency, 1 microsecond pulselength and 10 Hz repetition rate. At the conclusion of this program, the magnicon was undergoing high-power conditioning, having already demonstrated high-power operation, phase stability, a linear drive curve, a small operational frequency bandwidth and a spectrally pure, single-mode output

ZZ TEMPEST/MUFT, Thermal Neutron and Fast Neutron Multigroup Cross-Section Library for Program LEOPARD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jung-Do; Lee, Jong Tai

1986-01-01

Description of problem or function: Format: TEMPEST and MUFT; Number of groups: 246 thermal groups in TEMPEST Format and 54 fast groups in MUFT Format. From this library, the program SPOTS4 generates a 172-54 group library as input to the code LEOPARD. Nuclides: H, O, Zr, C, Fe, Ni, Al, Cr, Mn, U, Pu, Th, Pa, Xe, Sm, B and D. Origin: ENDF/B-4; Weighting spectrum: 1/E + U 235 fission spectrum. Data library of thermal and fast neutron group Cross sections to generate input to the program LEOPARD. The data is based on ENDF/B-4 and consists of two parts: (1) 246 thermal groups in TEMPEST Format. (2) 54 fast groups in MUFT Format. From this library, the program SPOTS4 generates a 172-54 group library as input to the code LEOPARD (NESC0279)

Neutron spectrum determination of d(20)+Be source reaction by the dosimetry foils method

Science.gov (United States)

Stefanik, Milan; Bem, Pavel; Majerle, Mitja; Novak, Jan; Simeckova, Eva

2017-11-01

The cyclotron-based fast neutron generator with the thick beryllium target operated at the NPI Rez Fast Neutron Facility is primarily designed for the fast neutron production in the p+Be source reaction at 35 MeV. Besides the proton beam, the isochronous cyclotron U-120M at the NPI provides the deuterons in the energy range of 10-20 MeV. The experiments for neutron field investigation from the deuteron bombardment of thick beryllium target at 20 MeV were performed just recently. For the neutron spectrum measurement of the d(20)+Be source reaction, the dosimetry foils activation method was utilized. Neutron spectrum reconstruction from resulting reaction rates was performed using the SAND-II unfolding code and neutron cross-sections from the EAF-2010 nuclear data library. Obtained high-flux white neutron field from the d(20)+Be source is useful for the intensive irradiation experiments and cross-section data validation.

Aqueous contaminant detection via UiO-66 thin film optical fiber sensor platform with fast Fourier transform based spectrum analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Nazari, Marziyeh; Rubio-Martinez, Marta; Babarao, Ravichandar; Ayad Younis, Adel; Collins, Stephen F.; Hill, Matthew R.; Duke, Mikel C.

2018-01-01

Routine water quality monitoring is required in drinking and waste water management. A particular interest is to measure concentrations of a range of diverse contaminants on-site or remotely in real time. Here we present metal organic framework (MOF) integrated optical fiber sensor that allows for rapid optical measurement based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) spectrum analysis. The end-face of these glass optical fibers was modified with UiO-66(Zr) MOF thin film by in situ hydrothermal synthesis for the detection of the model contaminants, Rhodamine-B and 4-Aminopyridine, in water. The sensing mechanism is based on the change in the optical path length of the thin film induced by the adsorption of chemical molecules by UiO-66. Using FFT analysis, various modes of interaction (physical and chemical) became apparent, showing both irreversible changes upon contact with the contaminant, as well as reversible changes according to actual concentration. This was indicated by the second harmonic elevation to a certain level translating to high sensitivity detection.

High-Resolution Fast-Neutron Spectrometry for Arms Control and Treaty Verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David L. Chichester; James T. Johnson; Edward H. Seabury

2012-07-01

Many nondestructive nuclear analysis techniques have been developed to support the measurement needs of arms control and treaty verification, including gross photon and neutron counting, low- and high-resolution gamma spectrometry, time-correlated neutron measurements, and photon and neutron imaging. One notable measurement technique that has not been extensively studied to date for these applications is high-resolution fast-neutron spectrometry (HRFNS). Applied for arms control and treaty verification, HRFNS has the potential to serve as a complimentary measurement approach to these other techniques by providing a means to either qualitatively or quantitatively determine the composition and thickness of non-nuclear materials surrounding neutron-emitting materials. The technique uses the normally-occurring neutrons present in arms control and treaty verification objects of interest as an internal source of neutrons for performing active-interrogation transmission measurements. Most low-Z nuclei of interest for arms control and treaty verification, including 9Be, 12C, 14N, and 16O, possess fast-neutron resonance features in their absorption cross sections in the 0.5- to 5-MeV energy range. Measuring the selective removal of source neutrons over this energy range, assuming for example a fission-spectrum starting distribution, may be used to estimate the stoichiometric composition of intervening materials between the neutron source and detector. At a simpler level, determination of the emitted fast-neutron spectrum may be used for fingerprinting 'known' assemblies for later use in template-matching tests. As with photon spectrometry, automated analysis of fast-neutron spectra may be performed to support decision making and reporting systems protected behind information barriers. This paper will report recent work at Idaho National Laboratory to explore the feasibility of using HRFNS for arms control and treaty verification applications, including simulations

Numerical calculation of high frequency fast wave current drive in a reactor grade tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ushigusa, Kenkichi; Hamamatsu, Kiyotaka

1988-02-01

A fast wave current drive with a high frequency is estimated for a reactor grade tokamak by the ray tracing and the quasi-linear Fokker-Planck calculations with an assumption of single path absorption. The fast wave can drive RF current with the drive efficiency of η CD = n-bar e (10 19 m -3 )I RC (A)R(m)/P RF (W) ∼ 3.0 when the wave frequency is selected to be f/f ci > 7. A sharp wave spectrum and a ph|| >/υ Te ∼ 3.0 are required to obtain a good efficiency. A center peaked RF current profile can be formed with an appropriate wave spectrum even in the high temperature plasma. (author)

Program HEFEST for calculation of neutron spectrum on the basis of the activity of threshold detectors; Progam HEFEST za obradu neutronskog spektra na osnovu aktivnosti prag detektora

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cupac, S; Sokcic-Kostic, M; Pesic, M [Institute of nuclear sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

1985-07-01

Program HEFEST for calculation of neutron spectrum on the basis of the activity of threshold detectors is described in this paper. After testing, program is used for the elaboration of the experimental results in determining the fast neutron spectrum on the coupled fast-thermal system on the reactor RB in IBK. (author)

Investigation of anomalous very fast decay regimes in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Meldi, Marcello; Sagaut, Pierre

2018-05-01

The emergence of anomalous fast decay regimes in homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) decay is investigated via both theoretical analysis and eddy-damped quasi-normal Markovian simulations. The work provides new insight about a fundamental issue playing a role in HIT decay, namely the influence of non-standard shapes of the energy spectrum, in particular in the large energetic scale region. A detailed analysis of the kinetic energy spectrum E(k) and the non-linear energy transfer T(k) shows that anomalous decay regimes are associated with the relaxation of initial energy spectra which exhibit a bump at energetic scales. This feature induces an increase in the energy cascade rate, toward solutions with a smooth shape at the spectrum peak. Present results match observations reported in wind-tunnel experiments dealing with turbulence decay in the wake of grids and bluff bodies, including scaling laws for the dissipation parameter Cɛ. They also indicate that the ratio between the initial eddy turnover time and the advection time determines of how fast anomalous regimes relax toward classical turbulence free-decay. This parameter should be used for consistent data comparison and it opens perspectives for the control of multiscale effects in industrial applications.

Transition to chaos in periodically driven thermionic diodes at low pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klinger, T.; Timm, R.; Piel, A.

1992-01-01

The static I(U) characteristic of thermionic diodes at mbar pressures shows a large hysteresis, which describes the transition from the 'anode-glow-mode' (AGM), with essentially negative plasma potential, to the 'temperature-limited-mode' (TLM), with positive plasma potential. Many features of these modes are also found in magnetic-box discharges with filament cathodes at pressures of 10 -2 -10 -1 Pa. Although these two pressure regimes are basically different concerning the transport properties (diffusion vs. free streaming), the elementary processes that establish the AGM in the low pressure regime are very similar to the high pressure regime. Ions are produced in that part of the anode sheath where the potential exceeds the ionization energy. The production rate is enhanced by multiple reflections of electrons between the magnetic fields of the permanent magnet array at the anode and the repulsive potential of the cathode plasma. Although the mean free path for charge exchange or elastic collisions substantially exceeds the anode-cathode distance, some few ions are stopped and trapped within the potential well of the virtual cathode. This accumulation of ions forms a cathodic plasma, which is essentially at cathode potential. Plasma formation in the anode sheath is suppressed as long as the ion production time is larger than the ion transit time through the sheath. These model ideas are supported by 1d-Particle-in-cell simulations using a modified PDP1-code. The AGM is attractive for studies of nonlinear dynamics because of its feedback processes and oscillations, which occur close to the hysteresis point. (author) 7 refs., 3 figs

Fast analysis of spectral data using neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roach, C.M.

1992-01-01

Fast analysis techniques are highly desirable in experiments where measurements are recorded at high rates. In fusion experiments the processing required to obtain plasma parameters is usually orders of magnitude slower than the data acquisition. Spectroscopic diagnostics suffer greatly from this problem. The extraction of plasma parameters from a measured spectrum typically corresponds to a nonlinear mapping between distinct multi-dimensional spaces. Where no analytic expression for the mapping exists, conventional analysis methods (e.g. least squares) are usually iterative and therefore slow. With this concern in mind a fast spectral analysis method involving neural networks has been investigated. (author) 6 refs., 3 figs

IAEA Technical Meeting on Innovative Fast Reactor Designs with Enhanced Negative Reactivity Feedback Features. Presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

The objective of the TM is to review and discuss the safety characteristics and the performances of the core of innovative fast reactor concepts, as well as to present the ongoing R&D activities in the area of core design and advanced simulation tools and methods for fast reactor core physics analysis. The focus is on fast spectrum cores optimized for actinide utilization and transmutation and, in particular, on core designs with enhanced negative reactivity feedback effects

A Fast Radio Burst Search Method for VLBI Observation

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lei; Tong, Fengxian; Zheng, Weimin; Zhang, Juan; Tong, Li

2018-02-01

We introduce the cross-spectrum-based fast radio burst (FRB) search method for Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) observation. This method optimizes the fringe fitting scheme in geodetic VLBI data post-processing, which fully utilizes the cross-spectrum fringe phase information and therefore maximizes the power of single-pulse signals. Working with cross-spectrum greatly reduces the effect of radio frequency interference compared with using auto-power spectrum. Single-pulse detection confidence increases by cross-identifying detections from multiple baselines. By combining the power of multiple baselines, we may improve the detection sensitivity. Our method is similar to that of coherent beam forming, but without the computational expense to form a great number of beams to cover the whole field of view of our telescopes. The data processing pipeline designed for this method is easy to implement and parallelize, which can be deployed in various kinds of VLBI observations. In particular, we point out that VGOS observations are very suitable for FRB search.

Timing coincidence studies with fast photomultipliers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raoof, M.A.; Raoof, S.A.

1981-01-01

The time response of RCA C70045D photomultipliers was studied using a subnanosecond light flasher. The tubes, which have an output rise time of approximately 0.5 ns, were used in coincidence to study the variations in the fwhm of the time spectrum over a certain dynamic range of pulse amplitudes for both leading edge and constant fraction discrimination. A comparison has also been made for the measured time resolutions with some of the other fast photomultipliers. (orig.)

Experimental and simulated fast ion velocity distributions on collective Thomson scattering diagnostic in the Large Helical Device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nishiura, M.; Kubo, S.; Tanaka, K.

2012-01-01

We have developed a collective Thomson scattering diagnostic system in the LHD. The CTS spectrum spread is observed in the frequency region corresponding to the bulk and fast ions during NB injection. The NB originated fast ions are evaluated by the MORH code for understanding the measured CTS sp...

The integral fast reactor - an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.; Hannum, W.H.

1997-01-01

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a system that consists of a fast-spectrum nuclear reactor that uses metallic fuel and liquid-metal (sodium) cooling, coupled with technology for high-temperature electrochemical recycling, and with processes for preparing wastes for disposition. The concept is based on decades of experience with fast reactors, adapted to priorities that have evolved markedly from those of the early days of nuclear power. It has four essential, distinguishing features: efficient use of natural resources, inherent safety characteristics, reduced burdens of nuclear waste, and unique proliferation resistance. These fundamental characteristics offer benefits in economics and environmental protection. The fuel cycle never involves separated plutonium, immediately simplifying the safeguarding task. Initiated in 1984 in response to proliferation concerns identified in the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFCE, 1980), the project has made substantial technical progress, with new potential applications coming to light as nuclear weapons stockpiles are reduced and concerns about waste disposal increase. A breakthrough technology, the IFR has the characteristics necessary for the next nuclear age. (author)

The Spectrum Sharing in Cognitive Radio Networks Based on Competitive Price Game

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. B. Li

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The competitive price game model is used to analyze the spectrum sharing problem in the cognitive radio networks, and the spectrum sharing problem with the constraints of available spectrum resource from primary users is further discussed in this paper. The Rockafeller multiplier method is applied to deal with the constraints of available licensed spectrum resource, and the improved profits function is achieved, which can be used to measure the impact of shared spectrum price strategies on the system profit. However, in the competitive spectrum sharing problem of practical cognitive radio network, primary users have to determine price of the shared spectrum without the acknowledgement of the other primary user’s price strategies. Thus a fast gradient iterative calculation method of equilibrium price is proposed, only with acknowledgement of the price strategies of shared spectrum during last cycle. Through the adaptive iteration at the direction with largest gradient of improved profit function, the equilibrium price strategies can be achieved rapidly. It can also avoid the predefinition of adjustment factor according to the parameters of communication system in conventional linear iteration method. Simulation results show that the proposed competitive price spectrum sharing model can be applied in the cognitive radio networks with constraints of available licensed spectrum, and it has better convergence performance.

Fast dictionary-based reconstruction for diffusion spectrum imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilgic, Berkin; Chatnuntawech, Itthi; Setsompop, Kawin; Cauley, Stephen F; Yendiki, Anastasia; Wald, Lawrence L; Adalsteinsson, Elfar

2013-11-01

Diffusion spectrum imaging reveals detailed local diffusion properties at the expense of substantially long imaging times. It is possible to accelerate acquisition by undersampling in q-space, followed by image reconstruction that exploits prior knowledge on the diffusion probability density functions (pdfs). Previously proposed methods impose this prior in the form of sparsity under wavelet and total variation transforms, or under adaptive dictionaries that are trained on example datasets to maximize the sparsity of the representation. These compressed sensing (CS) methods require full-brain processing times on the order of hours using MATLAB running on a workstation. This work presents two dictionary-based reconstruction techniques that use analytical solutions, and are two orders of magnitude faster than the previously proposed dictionary-based CS approach. The first method generates a dictionary from the training data using principal component analysis (PCA), and performs the reconstruction in the PCA space. The second proposed method applies reconstruction using pseudoinverse with Tikhonov regularization with respect to a dictionary. This dictionary can either be obtained using the K-SVD algorithm, or it can simply be the training dataset of pdfs without any training. All of the proposed methods achieve reconstruction times on the order of seconds per imaging slice, and have reconstruction quality comparable to that of dictionary-based CS algorithm.

RF study and 3-D simulations of a side-coupling thermionic RF-gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rimjaem, S.; Kusoljariyakul, K.; Thongbai, C.

2014-01-01

A thermionic RF-gun for generating ultra-short electron bunches was optimized, developed and used as a source at a linac-based THz radiation research laboratory of the Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The RF-gun is a π/2-mode standing wave structure, which consists of two S-band accelerating cells and a side-coupling cavity. The 2856 MHz RF wave is supplied from an S-band klystron to the gun through the waveguide input-port at the cylindrical wall of the second cell. A fraction of the RF power is coupled from the second cell to the first one via a side-coupling cavity. Both the waveguide input-port and the side-coupling cavity lead to an asymmetric geometry of the gun. RF properties and electromagnetic field distributions inside the RF-gun were studied and numerically simulated by using computer codes SUPERFISH 7.19 and CST Microwave Studio 2012 © . RF characterizations and tunings of the RF-gun were performed to ensure the reliability of the gun operation. The results from 3D simulations and measurements are compared and discussed in this paper. The influence of asymmetric field distributions inside the RF-gun on the electron beam properties was investigated via 3D beam dynamics simulations. A change in the coupling-plane of the side-coupling cavity is suggested to improve the gun performance

RF study and 3-D simulations of a side-coupling thermionic RF-gun

Science.gov (United States)

Rimjaem, S.; Kusoljariyakul, K.; Thongbai, C.

2014-02-01

A thermionic RF-gun for generating ultra-short electron bunches was optimized, developed and used as a source at a linac-based THz radiation research laboratory of the Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The RF-gun is a π/2-mode standing wave structure, which consists of two S-band accelerating cells and a side-coupling cavity. The 2856 MHz RF wave is supplied from an S-band klystron to the gun through the waveguide input-port at the cylindrical wall of the second cell. A fraction of the RF power is coupled from the second cell to the first one via a side-coupling cavity. Both the waveguide input-port and the side-coupling cavity lead to an asymmetric geometry of the gun. RF properties and electromagnetic field distributions inside the RF-gun were studied and numerically simulated by using computer codes SUPERFISH 7.19 and CST Microwave Studio 2012©. RF characterizations and tunings of the RF-gun were performed to ensure the reliability of the gun operation. The results from 3D simulations and measurements are compared and discussed in this paper. The influence of asymmetric field distributions inside the RF-gun on the electron beam properties was investigated via 3D beam dynamics simulations. A change in the coupling-plane of the side-coupling cavity is suggested to improve the gun performance.

Analysis of cavity effect on space- and time-dependent fast and thermal neutron energy spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kudo, Katsuhisa; Narita, Masakuni; Ozawa, Yasutomo.

1975-01-01

The effects of the presence of a central cavity on the space- and time-dependent neutron energy spectra in both thermal and fast neutron systems are analyzed theoretically with use made of the multi-group one-dimensional time-dependent Ssub(n) method. The thermal neutron field is also analyzed for the case of a fundamental time eigenvalue problem with the time-dependent P 1 approximation. The cavity radius is variable, and the system radius for graphite is 120 cm and for the other materials 7 cm. From the analysis of the time-dependent Ssub(n) calculations in the non-multiplying systems of polythene, light water and graphite, cavity heating is the dominant effect for the slowing-down spectrum in the initial period following fast neutron burst, and when the slowing-down spectrum comes into the thermal energy region, cavity heating shifts to cavity cooling. In the multiplying system of 235 U, cavity cooling also takes place as the spectrum approaches equilibrium after the fast neutron burst is injected. The mechanism of cavity cooling is explained analytically for the case of thermal neutron field to illustrate its physical aspects, using the time-dependent P 1 approximation. An example is given for the case of light water. (auth.)

Modeling transient thermal hydraulic behavior of a thermionic fuel element for nuclear space reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Kheliewi, A.S.; Klein, A.C.

1994-01-01

A transient code (TFETC) for determining the temperature distribution throughout the radial and axial positions of a thermionic fuel element (TFE) during changes in operating conditions has been successfully developed and tested. A fully implicit method is used to solve the system of equations for temperatures at each time step. Presently, TFETC has the ability to handle the following transients: startup, loss of flow accidents, and shutdown. The code has been applied to the startup of the ATI single cell configuration which appears to start up and shut down in an orderly and reasonable fashion. No unexpected transient features were observed. The TFE also appears to function robustly under loss of flow accident conditions. It appears hat sufficient time is available to shut the reactor down safely without melting point the fuel. The model shows that during a complete loss of flow accident (without shutdown) the coolant reaches its boiling point in approximately 35 seconds. The fuel may exceed its melting point after this time as the NaK coolant will boil if the reactor is not shut down. For 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 pump failures, the fuel temperatures never exceed the fuel melting point even if the reactor is not shut down

IAEA Technical Meeting on Innovative Fast Reactor Designs with Enhanced Negative Reactivity Feedback Features. Working Material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

The objective of the TM was to review and discuss the safety characteristics and the performances of the core of innovative fast reactor concepts, as well as to present the ongoing R&D activities in the area of core design and advanced simulation tools and methods for fast reactor core physics analysis. The focus was on fast spectrum cores optimized for actinide utilization and transmutation and, in particular, on core designs with enhanced negative reactivity feedback effects

Neutron spectrum effects on TRU recycling in Pb-Bi cooled fast reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yong Nam; Kim, Jong Kyung; Park, Won Seok

2003-01-01

This study is intended to evaluate the dependency of TRU recycling characteristics on the neutron spectrum shift in a Pb-Bi cooled core. Considering two Pb-Bi cooled cores with the soft and the hard spectrum, respectively, various characteristics of the recycled core are carefully examined and compared with each other. Assuming very simplified fuel cycle management with the homogeneous and single region fuel loading, the burnup calculations are performed until the recycled core reached to the (quasi-) equilibrium state. The mechanism of TRU recycling toward the equilibrium is analyzed in terms of burnup reactivity and the isotopic compositions of TRU fuel. In the comparative analyses, the difference in the recycling behavior between the two cores is clarified. In addition, the basic safety characteristics of the recycled core are also discussed in terms of the Doppler coefficient, the coolant loss reactivity coefficient, and the effective delayed neutron fraction

Features in the primordial power spectrum of double D-term inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesgourgues, Julien

2000-01-01

Recently, there has been some interest for building supersymmetric models of double inflation. These models, realistic from a particle physics point of view, predict a broken-scale-invariant power spectrum of primordial cosmological perturbations, that may explain eventual nontrivial features in the present matter power spectrum. In previous works, the primordial spectrum was calculated using analytic slow-roll approximations. However, these models involve a fast second-order phase transition during inflation, with a stage of spinodal instability, and an interruption of slow-roll. For our previous model of double D-term inflation, we simulate numerically the evolution of quantum fluctuations, taking into account the spinodal modes, and we show that the semiclassical approximation can be employed even during the transition, due to the presence of a second inflaton field. The primordial power spectrum possesses a rich structure, and possibly, a non-Gaussian spike on observable scales

Irradiation behaviour of UO2/Mo porous cermets for thermionic converters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stora, J.P.; Kauffmann, Y.

1975-01-01

Two types of UO 2 Mo porous cernets have been fabricated and irradiated in a Cythere irradiation device. The first cermet is constituted by little bits of dense fuel in which the two constituants are finely dispersed. The whole open porosity is located between the granules. This type of cermet is called breche (33.4vol%UO 2 , 51vol%Mo, 14.8vol%porosity). At the end of the irradiation the burn up was 19000MWd/t(U) and neither swelling of the cermet nor deformation of the can were noted. On the contrary, a shrinkage of the emitter was observed attributed to a fuel densification under irradiation. The second type of cermet is called macrogranule (36vol%UO 2 , 49vol%Mo 15vol%porosity). UO 2 granules of 0.07cm mean diameter are dispersed in the molybdenum matrix. The porosity is regularly distributed all around the UO 2 kernels. The post irradiation metrology shows that the emitter is fairly stable. Only a slight ovalisation of about 0.5% was noted, but the granules of UO 2 were redistributed inside the molybdenum matrix, overlapping the metallic cavity by a condensation-evaporation process. The matrix has crept into the central void and consequently the volume has grown and the whole porosity has increased from about 15% to about 23%. This creeping is due to the fission gas pressure in the molybdenum cavities after 3000 hours of irradiation. In conclusion two types of cermets have shown good behaviour under irradiation and should allow lifetimes of several thousand hours of operation for thermionic fuel elements [fr

Feasibility of the Precise Energy Calibration for Fast Neutron Spectrometers

Science.gov (United States)

Gaganov, V. V.; Usenko, P. L.; Kryzhanovskaja, M. A.

2017-12-01

Computational studies aimed at improving the accuracy of measurements performed using neutron generators with a tritium target were performed. A measurement design yielding an extremely narrow peak in the energy spectrum of DT neutrons was found. The presence of such a peak establishes the conditions for precise energy calibration of fast-neutron spectrometers.

The Neutron Spectrum in a Uranium Tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johansson, E.; Jonsson, E.; Lindberg, M.; Mednis, J.

1963-10-01

A series of experimental and theoretical investigations on neutron spectra in lattice cells has been started at the reactor R1. This report gives the results from the first one of these cells - one with a tube of natural -uranium surrounded by heavy water. In the measurements the cell was placed in the central, vertical channel of the reactor. The neutron spectrum from a lead scatterer in the uranium tube - outer diameter 49.2 mm, inner diameter 28.3 mm - was measured with a fast chopper in the energy region 0.01 to 100 eV. Subsidiary measurements indicated that the spectrum in the beam from the lead piece corresponds to the spectrum of the angular flux integrated over all angles. This correspondence is important for the interpretation of the experimental data. The thermal part of the spectrum was found to deviate significantly from a Maxwellian. However, the deviation is not very large, and one could use a Maxwellian, at least to give a rough idea of the hardness of the spectrum. For the present tube the temperature of this Maxwellian was estimated as 90 to 100 deg C above the moderator temperature (33 deg C). In the joining region the rise of the spectrum towards the thermal part is slower than for the cell boundary spectrum, measured earlier. In the epithermal region the limited resolution of the chopper has affected the measurements at the energies of the uranium resonances. However, the shape of the spectrum on the flanks of the first resonance in 238 U (6.68 eV) has been obtained accurately. In the theoretical treatment the THERMOS code with a free gas scattering model has been used. The energy region was 3.06 - 0.00025 eV. The agreement with the measurements is good for the thermal part - possibly the theoretical spectrum is a little softer than the experimental one. In the joining region the results from THERMOS are comparatively high - probably due to the scattering model used

The Neutron Spectrum in a Uranium Tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johansson, E; Jonsson, E; Lindberg, M; Mednis, J

1963-10-15

A series of experimental and theoretical investigations on neutron spectra in lattice cells has been started at the reactor R1. This report gives the results from the first one of these cells - one with a tube of natural -uranium surrounded by heavy water. In the measurements the cell was placed in the central, vertical channel of the reactor. The neutron spectrum from a lead scatterer in the uranium tube - outer diameter 49.2 mm, inner diameter 28.3 mm - was measured with a fast chopper in the energy region 0.01 to 100 eV. Subsidiary measurements indicated that the spectrum in the beam from the lead piece corresponds to the spectrum of the angular flux integrated over all angles. This correspondence is important for the interpretation of the experimental data. The thermal part of the spectrum was found to deviate significantly from a Maxwellian. However, the deviation is not very large, and one could use a Maxwellian, at least to give a rough idea of the hardness of the spectrum. For the present tube the temperature of this Maxwellian was estimated as 90 to 100 deg C above the moderator temperature (33 deg C). In the joining region the rise of the spectrum towards the thermal part is slower than for the cell boundary spectrum, measured earlier. In the epithermal region the limited resolution of the chopper has affected the measurements at the energies of the uranium resonances. However, the shape of the spectrum on the flanks of the first resonance in {sup 238}U (6.68 eV) has been obtained accurately. In the theoretical treatment the THERMOS code with a free gas scattering model has been used. The energy region was 3.06 - 0.00025 eV. The agreement with the measurements is good for the thermal part - possibly the theoretical spectrum is a little softer than the experimental one. In the joining region the results from THERMOS are comparatively high - probably due to the scattering model used.

Measurement of fast neutron spectra. 1-2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Itsuro

1976-01-01

The present status of the techniques for the measurement of fast neutron spectra is reviewed with particular attention to the recent activities in Japan. The first section of this report defines the energy range of fast neutrons, and various techniques are classified into four groups. In the following sections, recent development in each group is reviewed. The first part is the integral method represented mainly by the activation method. The variation of this method is shortly reviewed, and some results of the spectrum measurement for JRR-4 (a thermal research reactor) and YAYOI (a fast neutron source reactor) are presented together with the results of computed spectra. The second part is the method of proton recoil. The improvement of a proportional counter by Ichimori is shortly reviewed. The use of liquid scintillator is also discussed together with the experimental and computational results of YAYOI benchmark spectra of fast neutrons transmitted through the layers of iron. The utilization of n-α or n-p reaction as a sandwitch counter is discussed in the third part. Measured and calculated spectra in the FCA (a fast critical assembly) core are presented as examples. The method of time-of-flight is discussed in the fourth part. Recent developments in Japan such as the method with a double-scintillation counter are shortly presented together with its block diagram. (Aoki, K.)

Fast Dictionary-Based Reconstruction for Diffusion Spectrum Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Bilgic, Berkin; Chatnuntawech, Itthi; Setsompop, Kawin; Cauley, Stephen F.; Yendiki, Anastasia; Wald, Lawrence L.; Adalsteinsson, Elfar

2015-01-01

Diffusion Spectrum Imaging (DSI) reveals detailed local diffusion properties at the expense of substantially long imaging times. It is possible to accelerate acquisition by undersampling in q-space, followed by image reconstruction that exploits prior knowledge on the diffusion probability density functions (pdfs). Previously proposed methods impose this prior in the form of sparsity under wavelet and total variation (TV) transforms, or under adaptive dictionaries that are trained on example datasets to maximize the sparsity of the representation. These compressed sensing (CS) methods require full-brain processing times on the order of hours using Matlab running on a workstation. This work presents two dictionary-based reconstruction techniques that use analytical solutions, and are two orders of magnitude faster than the previously proposed dictionary-based CS approach. The first method generates a dictionary from the training data using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and performs the reconstruction in the PCA space. The second proposed method applies reconstruction using pseudoinverse with Tikhonov regularization with respect to a dictionary. This dictionary can either be obtained using the K-SVD algorithm, or it can simply be the training dataset of pdfs without any training. All of the proposed methods achieve reconstruction times on the order of seconds per imaging slice, and have reconstruction quality comparable to that of dictionary-based CS algorithm. PMID:23846466

Illicit substance detection using fast-neutron transmission spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micklich, B.J.; Harper, M.K.; Novick, A.H.; Smith, D.L.

1994-01-01

Fast-neutron interrogation techniques are of interest for detecting illicit substances such as explosives and drugs because of their ability to identify light elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Fast-Neutron Transmission Spectroscopy (FNTS) uses standard time-of-flight techniques to measure the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted from a collimated continuum source before and after transmission through the interrogated sample. The Monte Carlo transport code MCNP is used to model fast-neutron transmission experiments using a 9 Be(d, n) source (E d =5 MeV). The areal densities (number of atoms per cm 2 ), and the uncertainties, of various elements present in the sample are determined by an unfolding algorithm which includes the effects of cross-section errors and correlations. Results are displayed in the form of normalized densities, including their errors and correlations, which are then compared to the values for explosives and benign substances. Probabilistic interpretations of the results are discussed in terms of substance detection and identification. ((orig.))

Illicit substance detection using Fast-Neutron Transmission Spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micklich, B.J.; Harper, M.K.; Novick, A.H.; Smith, D.L.

1994-01-01

Fast-neutron interrogation techniques are of interest for detecting illicit substances such as explosives and drugs because of their ability to identify light elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Fast-Neutron Transmission Spectroscopy (FNTS) uses standard time-of-flight techniques to measure the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted from a collimated continuum source before and after transmission through the interrogated sample. The Monte Carlo transport code MCNP is used to model fast-neutron transmission experiments using a 9 Be(d,n) source [E d = 5 MeV]. The areal densities (number of atoms per cm 2 ), and the uncertainties, of various elements present in the sample are determined by an unfolding algorithm which includes the effects of cross-section errors and correlations. Results are displayed in the form of normalized densities, including their errors and correlations, which are then compared to the values for explosives and benign substances. Probabilistic interpretations of the results are discussed in terms of substance detection and identification

Alternative model of space-charge-limited thermionic current flow through a plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Campanell, M. D.

2018-04-01

It is widely assumed that thermionic current flow through a plasma is limited by a "space-charge-limited" (SCL) cathode sheath that consumes the hot cathode's negative bias and accelerates upstream ions into the cathode. Here, we formulate a fundamentally different current-limited mode. In the "inverse" mode, the potentials of both electrodes are above the plasma potential, so that the plasma ions are confined. The bias is consumed by the anode sheath. There is no potential gradient in the neutral plasma region from resistivity or presheath. The inverse cathode sheath pulls some thermoelectrons back to the cathode, thereby limiting the circuit current. Thermoelectrons entering the zero-field plasma region that undergo collisions may also be sent back to the cathode, further attenuating the circuit current. In planar geometry, the plasma density is shown to vary linearly across the electrode gap. A continuum kinetic planar plasma diode simulation model is set up to compare the properties of current modes with classical, conventional SCL, and inverse cathode sheaths. SCL modes can exist only if charge-exchange collisions are turned off in the potential well of the virtual cathode to prevent ion trapping. With the collisions, the current-limited equilibrium must be inverse. Inverse operating modes should therefore be present or possible in many plasma devices that rely on hot cathodes. Evidence from past experiments is discussed. The inverse mode may offer opportunities to minimize sputtering and power consumption that were not previously explored due to the common assumption of SCL sheaths.

Investigation of barium-calcium aluminate process to manufacture and characterize impregnated thermionic cathode for power microwave devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higashi, Cristiane

2006-01-01

In the present work it is described the barium calcium aluminate manufacture processes employed to produce impregnated cathodes to be used in a traveling-wave tube (TWT). The cathodes were developed using a tungsten body impregnated with barium and calcium aluminate with a 5:3:2 proportion (molar). Three different processes were investigated to obtain this material: solid-state reaction, precipitation and crystallization. Thermal analysis, thermogravimetry specifically, supported to determine an adequate preparation procedure (taking into account temperature, time and pyrolysis atmosphere). It was verified that the crystallization showed a better result when compared to those investigated (solid-state reaction and precipitation techniques - formation temperature is about 1000 deg C in hydrogen atmosphere), whereas it presented the lower formation temperature (800 deg C) in oxidizing atmosphere (O 2 ). It was used the practical work function distribution theory (PWFD) of Miram to characterize thermionic impregnated cathode. The PWFD curves were used to characterize the barium-calcium aluminate cathode. PWFD curves shown that the aluminate cathode work function is about 2,00 eV. (author)

Mutation spectrum in peas following treatment with fast neutrons and NEH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swiecicki, W.K.

1989-01-01

Full text: Seeds of Pisum lines 'Wt 3527' and 'Wt 4042' were treated with 200 and 500 rad of N f or 0.014 % NEH (8h, pH 4,5-5) or the combination of the two (irradiation followed by NEH treatment). Among 30,000 M 2 plants 1314 mutants were identified. N f were the least effective in terms of number of mutants, but induced the widest spectrum, alone as well as in combination with NEH. A number of hitherto unknown mutant genes were identified after the combined treatment of the line 'Wt 3527'. (author)

Coherent radiation spectrum measurements at KEK LUCX facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shevelev, M., E-mail: mishe@post.kek.jp [KEK: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Aryshev, A., E-mail: alar@post.kek.jp [KEK: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Araki, S.; Fukuda, M. [KEK: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Karataev, P. [John Adams Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX (United Kingdom); Terunuma, N.; Urakawa, J. [KEK: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan)

2015-01-21

This paper demonstrates the detailed design concept, alignment, and initial testing of a Michelson interferometer for the THz spectral range. We present the first results on the measurement of a coherent transition radiation spectrum and describe the performance of a pair of ultra-fast broadband room temperature Schottky barrier diode detectors. We discuss the main criteria of interferometer beam splitter optimization, the alignment technique, the high-precision calibration and linearity check of the motion system.

Fast neutron spectroscopy by gas proton-recoil methods at the light water reactor pressure vessel simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogers, J.W.

1980-10-01

Fast neutron spectrum measurements were made in a Light Water Reactor (LWR) Pressure Vessel Simulator (PVS) to provide neutron spectral definition required to appropriately perform and interpret neutron dosimetry measurements related to fast neutron damage in LWR-PV steels. Proton-recoil proportional counter methods using hydrogen and methane gas-filled detectors were applied to obtain the proton spectra from which the neutron spectra were derived. Cylindrical and spherical geometry detectors were used to cover the neutron energy range between 50 keV and 2 MeV. Results show that the neutron spectra shift in energy distribution toward lower energy between the front and back of a PVS. The relative neutron flux densities increase in this energy range with increasing thickness of the steel. Neutron spectrum fine structure shapes and changes are observed. These results should assist in the generation of more accurate effective cross sections and fluences for use in LWR-PV fast neutron dosimetry and materials damage analyses

Neutron spectroscopy measurements and modeling of neutral beam heating fast ion dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellesen, C; Sunden, E Andersson; Conroy, S; Ericsson, G; Johnson, M Gatu; Hjalmarsson, A; Kaellne, J; Ronchi, E; Sjoestrand, H; Weiszflog, M; Albergante, M; Ballabio, L; Gorini, G; Tardocchi, M; Giacomelli, L; Jenkins, I; Voitsekhovitch, I

2010-01-01

The energy spectrum of the neutron emission from beam-target reactions in fusion plasmas at the Joint European Torus (JET) has been investigated. Different beam energies as well as injection angles were used. Both measurements and simulations of the energy spectrum were done. The measurements were made with the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR. Simulations of the neutron spectrum were based on first-principle calculations of neutral beam deposition profiles and the fast ion slowing down in the plasma using the code NUBEAM, which is a module of the TRANSP package. The shape of the neutron energy spectrum was seen to vary significantly depending on the energy of the beams as well as the injection angle and the deposition profile in the plasma. Cross validations of the measured and modeled neutron energy spectra were made, showing a good agreement for all investigated scenarios.

The VEGA Assembly Spectrum Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milosevic, M.

1997-01-01

The VEGA is assembly spectrum code, developed as a design tool for producing a few-group averaged cross section data for a wide range of reactor types including both thermal and fast reactors. It belongs to a class of codes, which may be characterized by the separate stages for micro group, spectrum and macro group assembly calculations. The theoretical foundation for the development of the VEGA code was integral transport theory in the first-flight collision probability formulation. Two versions of VEGA are now in use, VEGA-1 established on standard equivalence theory and VEGA-2 based on new subgroup method applicable for any geometry for which a flux solution is possible. This paper describes a features which are unique to the VEGA codes with concentration on the basic principles and algorithms used in the proposed subgroup method. Presented validation of this method, comprise the results for a homogenous uranium-plutonium mixture and a PWR cell containing a recycled uranium-plutonium oxide. Example application for a realistic fuel dissolver benchmark problem , which was extensive analyzed in the international calculations, is also included. (author)

RF study and 3-D simulations of a side-coupling thermionic RF-gun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rimjaem, S., E-mail: sakhorn.rimjaem@cmu.ac.th [Department of Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics (ThEP), Commission on Higher Education, Bangkok 10400 (Thailand); Kusoljariyakul, K.; Thongbai, C. [Department of Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200 (Thailand); Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics (ThEP), Commission on Higher Education, Bangkok 10400 (Thailand)

2014-02-01

A thermionic RF-gun for generating ultra-short electron bunches was optimized, developed and used as a source at a linac-based THz radiation research laboratory of the Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The RF-gun is a π/2-mode standing wave structure, which consists of two S-band accelerating cells and a side-coupling cavity. The 2856 MHz RF wave is supplied from an S-band klystron to the gun through the waveguide input-port at the cylindrical wall of the second cell. A fraction of the RF power is coupled from the second cell to the first one via a side-coupling cavity. Both the waveguide input-port and the side-coupling cavity lead to an asymmetric geometry of the gun. RF properties and electromagnetic field distributions inside the RF-gun were studied and numerically simulated by using computer codes SUPERFISH 7.19 and CST Microwave Studio 2012{sup ©}. RF characterizations and tunings of the RF-gun were performed to ensure the reliability of the gun operation. The results from 3D simulations and measurements are compared and discussed in this paper. The influence of asymmetric field distributions inside the RF-gun on the electron beam properties was investigated via 3D beam dynamics simulations. A change in the coupling-plane of the side-coupling cavity is suggested to improve the gun performance.

Dosimetry Characteristics of Coupled Fast-Thermal Core 'HERBE'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pesic, M.; Milosevic, M.; Milovanovic, S.

1996-01-01

The 'HERBE' is new coupled fast-thermal core, designed in 1991, at the 'RB' reactor in the 'Vinca' Institute. It is used for verification of designed oriented computer codes developed in the Institute, training and sample irradiation in fast neutron field. For the last purpose a vertical experimental channel (VCH) is placed in the central axis of the fast core. Neutron spectrum in the centre of the VCR is calculated in 44 energy groups. Space distributions of two energy group neutron flux in the 'HERBE' are measured using gold foils and converted into the neutron absorbed dose (in air and tissue) using group flux-dose conversion factors. Gamma absorption doses in the air in the centre of the VCH are measured using calibrated small ionisation chamber filled with air. Determined dose rates are related to the reactor power. The first preliminary irradiations of silicon diodes (designed for production of the neutron dosemeters) in the centre of the VCH of the 'HERBE' fast core are carried out in 1994 and 1995. This paper describes calculation methods and measurement techniques applied to determination of the irradiation performance and dosimetry characteristics of the 'HERBE' system. (author)

Generation of spectrum compatible accelerograms for seismic analysis of prototype fast breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selvaraj, T.; Chellapandi, P.; Chetal, S.C.

2003-01-01

For the seismic design of nuclear power plants, time history of earthquake ground motion is required basically to generate time histories at various floors of nuclear island as well as at the component support locations. From such time histories, floor response spectra (FRS) can be generated. The basic input is specified as site dependent response spectra (SDRS), from which a set of uncorrelated time histories is generated whose own response spectrum matches with the design response spectra. These time histories have got a great impact on the structural design and economy. For Kalpakkam, the site for PFBR, the seismic input is defined in terms of SDRS for various damping values and its shapes have been arrived already. Synthetic accelerograms have been generated such that the time-history generated response spectrum (THRS) closely matches the SDRS for 5% of critical damping. Time histories have been developed using CASTEM 2000, a multi purpose FE code. This paper deals with the generation methodology and their compliance with ASCE 4-98. (author)

Application of semi-empirical modeling and non-linear regression to unfolding fast neutron spectra from integral reaction rate data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harker, Y.D.

1976-01-01

A semi-empirical analytical expression representing a fast reactor neutron spectrum has been developed. This expression was used in a non-linear regression computer routine to obtain from measured multiple foil integral reaction data the neutron spectrum inside the Coupled Fast Reactivity Measurement Facility. In this application six parameters in the analytical expression for neutron spectrum were adjusted in the non-linear fitting process to maximize consistency between calculated and measured integral reaction rates for a set of 15 dosimetry detector foils. In two-thirds of the observations the calculated integral agreed with its respective measured value to within the experimental standard deviation, and in all but one case agreement within two standard deviations was obtained. Based on this quality of fit the estimated 70 to 75 percent confidence intervals for the derived spectrum are 10 to 20 percent for the energy range 100 eV to 1 MeV, 10 to 50 percent for 1 MeV to 10 MeV and 50 to 90 percent for 10 MeV to 18 MeV. The analytical model has demonstrated a flexibility to describe salient features of neutron spectra of the fast reactor type. The use of regression analysis with this model has produced a stable method to derive neutron spectra from a limited amount of integral data

Detection of fast burst of neutrons in the background of intense electromagnetic pulse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shyam, Anurag

1999-01-01

There are many experiments, in which fast neutron burst is emitted along with strong electromagnetic pulse. This pulse has frequency spectrum starting from few tens of khz to hard x-rays. Detecting these neutrons bursts require special measurement techniques, which are described. (author)

Reactor design for nuclear electric propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenig, D.R.; Ranken, W.A.

1979-01-01

Conceptual design studies of a nuclear power plant for electric propulsion of spacecrafts have been on going for several years. An attractive concept which has evolved from these studies and which has been described in previous publications, is a heat-pipe cooled, fast spectrum nuclear reactor that provides 3 MW of thermal energy to out-of-core thermionic converters. The primary motivation for using heat pipes is to provide redundancy in the core cooling system that is not available in gas or liquid-metal cooled reactors. Detailed investigation of the consequences of heat pipe failures has resulted in modifications to the basic reactor design and has led to consideration of an entirely different core design. The new design features an integral laminated core configuration consisting of alternating layers of UO 2 and molybdenum sheets that span the entire diameter of the core. Design characteristics are presented and compared for the two reactors

NEUTRON SPECTRUM MEASUREMENTS USING MULTIPLE THRESHOLD DETECTORS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerken, William W.; Duffey, Dick

1963-11-15

From American Nuclear Society Meeting, New York, Nov. 1963. The use of threshold detectors, which simultaneously undergo reactions with thermal neutrons and two or more fast neutron threshold reactions, was applied to measurements of the neutron spectrum in a reactor. A number of different materials were irradiated to determine the most practical ones for use as multiple threshold detectors. These results, as well as counting techniques and corrections, are presented. Some materials used include aluminum, alloys of Al -Ni, aluminum-- nickel oxides, and magesium orthophosphates. (auth)

Fast flux measurements by means of threshold detectors on the reactor 'Melusine'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leger, P.; Sautiez, B.

1959-01-01

Using existing data on the (n,p) and (n,α) threshold reactions we have carried out fast flux measurements on the swimming pool type reactor 'Melusine'. Four common elements: P, S, Mg, Al were chosen because from the point of view of fast spectrum analysis they represent a fairly good energy range from 2.4 MeV to 8 MeV. The fission flux value found in the central element at a power of 1 MW is 1.4 x 10 13 n/cm 2 /s ± 0.14. (author) [fr

Using the transportable, computer-operated, liquid-scintillator fast-neutron spectrometer system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorngate, J.H.

1988-01-01

When a detailed energy spectrum is needed for radiation-protection measurements from approximately 1 MeV up to several tens of MeV, organic-liquid scintillators make good neutron spectrometers. However, such a spectrometer requires a sophisticated electronics system and a computer to reduce the spectrum from the recorded data. Recently, we added a Nuclear Instrument Module (NIM) multichannel analyzer and a lap-top computer to the NIM electronics we have used for several years. The result is a transportable fast-neutron spectrometer system. The computer was programmed to guide the user through setting up the system, calibrating the spectrometer, measuring the spectrum, and reducing the data. Measurements can be made over three energy ranges, 0.6--2 MeV, 1.1--8 MeV, or 1.6--16 MeV, with the spectrum presented in 0.1-MeV increments. Results can be stored on a disk, presented in a table, and shown in graphical form. 5 refs., 51 figs

FAST-PT II: an algorithm to calculate convolution integrals of general tensor quantities in cosmological perturbation theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Xiao; Blazek, Jonathan A.; McEwen, Joseph E.; Hirata, Christopher M., E-mail: fang.307@osu.edu, E-mail: blazek@berkeley.edu, E-mail: mcewen.24@osu.edu, E-mail: hirata.10@osu.edu [Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, 191 W Woodruff Ave, Columbus OH 43210 (United States)

2017-02-01

Cosmological perturbation theory is a powerful tool to predict the statistics of large-scale structure in the weakly non-linear regime, but even at 1-loop order it results in computationally expensive mode-coupling integrals. Here we present a fast algorithm for computing 1-loop power spectra of quantities that depend on the observer's orientation, thereby generalizing the FAST-PT framework (McEwen et al., 2016) that was originally developed for scalars such as the matter density. This algorithm works for an arbitrary input power spectrum and substantially reduces the time required for numerical evaluation. We apply the algorithm to four examples: intrinsic alignments of galaxies in the tidal torque model; the Ostriker-Vishniac effect; the secondary CMB polarization due to baryon flows; and the 1-loop matter power spectrum in redshift space. Code implementing this algorithm and these applications is publicly available at https://github.com/JoeMcEwen/FAST-PT.

Normalized Noise Power Spectrum of Full Field Digital Mammography System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isa, Norriza Mohd; Wan Hassan, Wan Muhamad Saridan

2010-01-01

A method to measure noise power spectrum of a full field digital mammography system is presented. The effect of X-ray radiation dose, size and configuration of region of interest on normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) was investigated. Flat field images were acquired using RQA-M2 beam quality technique (Mo/Mo anode-filter, 28 kV, 2 mm Al) with different clinical radiation doses. The images were cropped at about 4 cm from the edge of the breast wall and then divided into different size of non-overlapping or overlapping segments. NNPS was determined through detrending, 2-D fast Fourier transformation and normalization. Our measurement shows that high radiation dose gave lower NNPS at a specific beam quality.

Brillouin Scattering Spectrum Analysis Based on Auto-Regressive Spectral Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Mengyun; Li, Wei; Liu, Zhangyun; Cheng, Linghao; Guan, Bai-Ou

2018-06-01

Auto-regressive (AR) spectral estimation technology is proposed to analyze the Brillouin scattering spectrum in Brillouin optical time-domain refelectometry. It shows that AR based method can reliably estimate the Brillouin frequency shift with an accuracy much better than fast Fourier transform (FFT) based methods provided the data length is not too short. It enables about 3 times improvement over FFT at a moderate spatial resolution.

Brillouin Scattering Spectrum Analysis Based on Auto-Regressive Spectral Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Mengyun; Li, Wei; Liu, Zhangyun; Cheng, Linghao; Guan, Bai-Ou

2018-03-01

Auto-regressive (AR) spectral estimation technology is proposed to analyze the Brillouin scattering spectrum in Brillouin optical time-domain refelectometry. It shows that AR based method can reliably estimate the Brillouin frequency shift with an accuracy much better than fast Fourier transform (FFT) based methods provided the data length is not too short. It enables about 3 times improvement over FFT at a moderate spatial resolution.

A Spectrum Allocation Mechanism Based on HJ-DQPSO for Cognitive Radio Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhu Jiang

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In cognitive radio network model consisting of secondary users and primary users, in order to solve the difficult multi-objective spectrum allocation issue about maximizing network efficiency and users’ fairness to access network, this paper proposes a new discrete multi-objective combinatorial optimization mechanism—HJ-DQPSO based on Hooke Jeeves (HJ and Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization (QPSO algorithm. The mechanism adopts HJ algorithm to local search to prevent falling into the local optimum, and proposes a discrete QPSO algorithm to match the discrete spectrum assignment model. The mechanism has the advantages of approximating optimal solution, rapid convergence, less parameters, avoiding falling into local optimum. Compared with existing spectrum assignment algorithms, the simulation results show that according to different optimization objectives, the HJ-DQPSO optimization mechanism for multi-objective optimization can better approximate optimal solution and　converge fast. We can obtain a reasonable spectrum allocation scheme in the case of satisfying multiple optimization objectives.

Surface trapping phenomena in thermionic emission generating l/f noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepanescu, A.

1975-01-01

A general expression of the power spectrum of''flicker noise'', involving stochastic trapping phenomena and calculated on the basis of a two parameter model, is applied in the case of thermoionic emission from cathode surface. The fluctuation of the work function over the cathode surface is interpreted as being due to a trapping process of foreign atoms by the cathode. Taking into account the very physical nature of the trapping mechanism, under self-consistent assumptions, a 1/f power spectrum is obtained in a certain range of frequency. The two parameter model removes some discrepancies involved in the preceding theories. (author)

The practical model of electron emission in the radioisotope battery by fast ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erokhine, N.S.; Balebanov, V.M.

2003-01-01

Under the theoretical analysis of secondary-emission radioisotope source of current the estimate of energy spectrum F(E) of secondary electrons with energy E emitted from films is the important problem. This characteristic knowledge allows, in particular, studying the volt-ampere function, the dependence of electric power deposited in the load on the system parameters and so on. Since the rigorous calculations of energy spectrum F(E) are the complicated enough and labour-intensive there is necessity to elaborate the practical model which allows by the simple computer routine on the basis of generalized data (both experimental measurements and theoretical calculations) on the stopping powers and mean free path of suprathermal electrons to perform reliable express-estimates of the energy spectrum F(E) and the volt-ampere function I(V) for the concrete materials of battery emitter films. This paper devoted to description of of the practical model to calculate electron emission characteristics under the passage of fast ion fluxes from the radioisotope source through the battery emitter. The analytical approximations for the stopping power of emitter materials, the electron inelastic mean free path, the ion production of fast electrons and the probability for them to arrive the film surface are taken into account. In the cases of copper and gold films, the secondary electron escaping depth, the position of energy spectrum peak are considered in the dependence on surface potential barrier magnitude U. According to our calculations the energy spectrum peak shifted to higher electron energy under the U growth. The model described may be used for express estimates and computer simulations of fast alpha-particles and suprathermal electrons interactions with the solid state plasma of battery emitter films, to study the electron emission layer characteristics including the secondary electron escaping depth, to find the optimum conditions for excitation of nonequilibrium

A fast data acquisition system for PHA and MCS measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eijk, P.J.A. van; Keyser, C.J.; Rigterink, B.J.; Hasper, H.

1985-01-01

A microprocessor controlled data acquisition system for pulse height analysis and multichannel scaling is described. A 4K x 24 bit static memory is used to obtain a fast data acquisition rate. The system can store 12 bit ADC or TDC data within 150 ns. Operating commands can be entered via a small keyboard or by a RS-232-C interface. An oscilloscope is used to display a spectrum. The display of a spectrum or the transmission of spectrum data to an external computer causes only a short interruption of a measurement in progress and is accomplished by using a DMA circuit. The program is written in Modular Pascal and is divided into 15 modules. These implement 9 parallel processes which are synchronized by using semaphores. Hardware interrupts from the data acquisition, DMA, keyboard and RS-232-C circuits are used to signal these processes. (orig.)

Voice Patterns in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fusaroli, Riccardo; Cantio, Cathriona; Bilenberg, Niels

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to have atypical modulation of speech, often described as awkward, monotone, or sing-songy [1-3]. The patterns may be one of the most robust and fast signals of social communication deficits in ASD [4, 5]. However, it has proven...... spectrum disorders, Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 35 (2005) 861–869. [5] R.B. Grossman, H. Tager-Flusberg, Quality matters! Differences between expressive and receptive non-verbal communication skills in children with ASD, Res Autism Spect Dis, 6 (2012) 1150-1155. [6] R. Fusaroli, D. Bang......’s syndrome. Objectives: We systematically quantify and explore speech patterns in Danish children (8-12 years) with and without autism. We employ traditional and non-linear techniques measuring the structure (regularity and complexity) of speech behavior (i.e. fundamental frequency, use of pauses, speech...

[Research on fast classification based on LIBS technology and principle component analyses].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Qi; Ma, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Rui; Zhao, Hua-Feng

2014-11-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and the principle component analysis (PCA) were combined to study aluminum alloy classification in the present article. Classification experiments were done on thirteen different kinds of standard samples of aluminum alloy which belong to 4 different types, and the results suggested that the LIBS-PCA method can be used to aluminum alloy fast classification. PCA was used to analyze the spectrum data from LIBS experiments, three principle components were figured out that contribute the most, the principle component scores of the spectrums were calculated, and the scores of the spectrums data in three-dimensional coordinates were plotted. It was found that the spectrum sample points show clear convergence phenomenon according to the type of aluminum alloy they belong to. This result ensured the three principle components and the preliminary aluminum alloy type zoning. In order to verify its accuracy, 20 different aluminum alloy samples were used to do the same experiments to verify the aluminum alloy type zoning. The experimental result showed that the spectrum sample points all located in their corresponding area of the aluminum alloy type, and this proved the correctness of the earlier aluminum alloy standard sample type zoning method. Based on this, the identification of unknown type of aluminum alloy can be done. All the experimental results showed that the accuracy of principle component analyses method based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is more than 97.14%, and it can classify the different type effectively. Compared to commonly used chemical methods, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can do the detection of the sample in situ and fast with little sample preparation, therefore, using the method of the combination of LIBS and PCA in the areas such as quality testing and on-line industrial controlling can save a lot of time and cost, and improve the efficiency of detection greatly.

Coupled fast-thermal system at the RB, masters thesis; Spregnuti brzo-termicki sistem na reaktoru RB, magistarski rad

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pesic, M [Boris Kidric Institute of nuclear sciences Vinca, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

1984-05-15

Coupled fast-thermal system at the RB reactor was formed owing to availability of highly enriched fuel. This paper deals with reactor parameters calculations and measurements of coupled core taking into account safety constraints. Validity of applied calculation methods was confirmed. The following parameters were analyzed: critical height of the core; reactivity dependent on heavy water level in the core; fast neutron spectrum in the fast region channel; spatial distribution of thermal. epithermal and fat neutrons in the fast region channel; reactivity of safety rods; neutron and gamma absorption doses in the center of the coupled core.

Role of fast reactor and its cycle to reduce nuclear waste burden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arie, Kazuo; Oomori, Takashi; Okita, Takeshi [Toshiba Corporation, 8, Shinsugita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama 235-8523 (Japan); Kawashima, Masatoshi [Toshiba Nuclear Engineering Services Corporation, 8, Shinsugita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, 235-8523 (Japan); Kotake, Shoji [The Japan Atomic Power Company, 1-1, Kanda-Mitoshiro-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0053 (Japan); Fuji-ie, Yoichi [Nuclear Salon Fuji-ie, 1-11-10, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0034 (Japan)

2013-07-01

The role of the metal fuel fast reactor with recycling of actinides and the five long-lived fission products based on the concept of the Self-Consistent Nuclear Energy System has been examined by evaluating the reduction of nuclear wastes during the transition period to this reactor system. The evaluation was done in comparison to an LWR once-through case and a conventional actinide recycling oxide fast reactor. As a result, it is quantitatively clarified that a metal fuel fast reactor with actinide and the five long-lived fission products (I{sup 129}, Tc{sup 99}, Zr{sup 93}, Cs{sup 135} and Sn{sup 126}) recycling could play a significant role in reducing the nuclear waste burden including the current LWR wastes. This can be achieved by using a fast neutron spectrum reactor enhanced with metal fuel that brings high capability as a 'waste burner'. (authors)

A Fast DOA Estimation Algorithm Based on Polarization MUSIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Guo

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A fast DOA estimation algorithm developed from MUSIC, which also benefits from the processing of the signals' polarization information, is presented. Besides performance enhancement in precision and resolution, the proposed algorithm can be exerted on various forms of polarization sensitive arrays, without specific requirement on the array's pattern. Depending on the continuity property of the space spectrum, a huge amount of computation incurred in the calculation of 4-D space spectrum is averted. Performance and computation complexity analysis of the proposed algorithm is discussed and the simulation results are presented. Compared with conventional MUSIC, it is indicated that the proposed algorithm has considerable advantage in aspects of precision and resolution, with a low computation complexity proportional to a conventional 2-D MUSIC.

Fast wave current drive technology development at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baity, F.W.; Batchelor, D.B.; Goulding, R.H.; Hoffman, D.J.; Jaeger, E.F.; Ryan, P.M.; deGrassie, J.S.; Petty, C.C.; Pinsker, R.I.; Prater, R.

1993-01-01

The technology required for fast wave current drive (FWCD) systems is discussed. Experiments are underway on DIII-D, JET, and elsewhere. Antennas for FWCD draw heavily upon the experience gained in the design of ICRF heating systems with the additional requirement of launching a directional wave spectrum. Through collaborations with DIII-D, JET, and Tore Supra rapid progress is being made in the demonstration of the physics and technology of FWCD needed for TPX and ITER

Fast wave current drive technology development at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baity, F.W.; Batchelor, D.B.; Goulding, R.H.

1994-01-01

The technology required for fast wave current drive (FWCD) systems is discussed. Experiments are underway on DIII-D, JET, and elsewhere. Antennas for FWCD draw heavily upon the experience gained in the design of ICRF heating systems with the additional requirement of launching a directional wave spectrum. Through collaborations with DIII-D, JET, and Tore Supra rapid progress is being made in the demonstration of the physics and technology of FWCD needed for TPX and ITER. (author)

Characterization of LH induced current carrying fast electrons in JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramponi, G.; Airoldi, A. [Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milan (Italy). Lab. di Fisica del Plasma; Bartlett, D.; Brusati, M.; Froissard, P.; Gormezano, C.; Rimini, F.; Silva, R.P. da; Tanzi, C.P. [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking

1992-12-31

Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) experiments have recently been made at JET by coupling up to 2.4 MW of RF power at 3.7 GHz, with a power spectrum centered at n{sub ||} = 1.8 {+-} 0.2 corresponding to a resonating electron energy of about 100 keV via Electron Landau Damping. The Current Drive (CD) efficiency has been observed to increase when LH and ICRH power are applied simultaneously to the plasma, suggesting that a part of the fast magnetosonic wave is absorbed on the LH-generated fast electrons. An important problem of CD experiments in tokamaks is the determination of the radial distribution of the driven current and the characterization in the momentum space of the current carrying fast electrons by using appropriate diagnostic tools. For this purpose, a combined analysis of the Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) and of the Fast Electron Bremsstrahlung (FEB) measurements has been made, allowing the relevant parameters of the suprathermal electrons to be estimated. (author) 5 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Characterization of LH induced current carrying fast electrons in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramponi, G.; Airoldi, A.; Bartlett, D.; Brusati, M.; Froissard, P.; Gormezano, C.; Rimini, F.; Silva, R.P. da; Tanzi, C.P.

1992-01-01

Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) experiments have recently been made at JET by coupling up to 2.4 MW of RF power at 3.7 GHz, with a power spectrum centered at n || = 1.8 ± 0.2 corresponding to a resonating electron energy of about 100 keV via Electron Landau Damping. The Current Drive (CD) efficiency has been observed to increase when LH and ICRH power are applied simultaneously to the plasma, suggesting that a part of the fast magnetosonic wave is absorbed on the LH-generated fast electrons. An important problem of CD experiments in tokamaks is the determination of the radial distribution of the driven current and the characterization in the momentum space of the current carrying fast electrons by using appropriate diagnostic tools. For this purpose, a combined analysis of the Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) and of the Fast Electron Bremsstrahlung (FEB) measurements has been made, allowing the relevant parameters of the suprathermal electrons to be estimated. (author) 5 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

Extending the Candu Nuclear Reactor Concept: The Multi-Spectrum Nuclear Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, Francis; Bonin, Hugues

2008-01-01

The aim of this work is to examine the multi-spectrum nuclear reactor concept as an alternative to fast reactors and accelerator-driven systems for breeding fissile material and reducing the radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel. The design characteristics of the CANDU TM nuclear power reactor are shown to provide a basis for a novel approach to this concept. (authors)

Extending the Candu Nuclear Reactor Concept: The Multi-Spectrum Nuclear Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allen, Francis [Director General Nuclear Safety, 280 Slater St, Ottawa, K1A OK2 (Canada); Bonin, Hugues [Royal Military College of Canada, 11 General Crerar Cres, Kingston, K7K 7B4 (Canada)

2008-07-01

The aim of this work is to examine the multi-spectrum nuclear reactor concept as an alternative to fast reactors and accelerator-driven systems for breeding fissile material and reducing the radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel. The design characteristics of the CANDU{sup TM} nuclear power reactor are shown to provide a basis for a novel approach to this concept. (authors)

The performance of ENDF/B-V.2 nuclear data for fast reactor calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atkinson, C.A.; Collins, P.J.

1987-01-01

Calculations with ENDF/B-V.2 data have been made for twenty-five fast-spectrum integral assemblies covering a wide range of sizes and compositions. Analysis was done by transport codes with refined cross section processing methods and detailed reactor modelling. The predictions of fission rate distributions and control rod worths were emphasized for the more prototypic benchmark cores. The results show considerable improvements in agreement with experiment compared with analysis using ENDF/B-IV data, but it is apparent that significant errors remain for fast reactor design calculations

Application of an iterative methodology for cross-section and variance/covariance data adjustment to the analysis of fast spectrum systems accounting for non-linearity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelloni, Sandro

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Our data adjustment is based on a Generalized Linear Least-Squares approach. • The computed sensitivity coefficients are converged within an iterative procedure. • The corresponding multistep adjustment thus accounts for non-linearity. • It provides a more accurate simulation of fast-spectrum experiments. - Abstract: The data assimilation benchmark launched by the “Subgroup 33” on “Methods and issues for the combined use of integral experiments and covariance data” of the Working Party on Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Nuclear Science Committee is recalculated by means of a multistep adjustment procedure using the deterministic code system ERANOS in conjunction with a dedicated Generalized Linear Least-Squares approach based on the Bayesian parameter estimation method. Nuclear data in terms of multi-group cross-sections as well as their variances and covariances, are adjusted for 11 nuclides, namely 10 B, 16 O, 23 Na, 56 Fe, 52 Cr, 58 Ni, 235 U, 238 U, 239 Pu, 240 Pu and 241 Pu and 6 nuclear reactions which are elastic and inelastic scattering, lumped (n,2n) and (n,3n), capture, fission and ν ¯ . The adjustment is carried out by making use of experimental data for 19 integral parameters obtained in 7 different fast spectrum systems. In the determination of a posteriori values for these integral parameters including effective multiplication factors, spectral indices and void effects, along with their nuclear data uncertainty, the required adjusted data for these nuclides and reactions are generated in conjunction with pre-computed sensitivity coefficients of the analytical integral parameters to the nuclear data to adjust. The suggested multistep scheme aims at accounting for non-linear effects. Correspondingly, the sensitivity coefficients are recalculated within an iterative procedure on the basis of the a posteriori analytical values and adjusted cross-sections. The adjustment is thus repeated

Fast Burst Synchronization for Power Line Communication Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lampe Lutz

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Fast burst synchronization is an important requirement in asynchronous communication networks, where devices transmit short data packets in an unscheduled fashion. Such a synchronization is typically achieved by means of a preamble sent in front of the data packet. In this paper, we study fast burst synchronization for power line communication (PLC systems operating below 500 kHz and transmitting data rates of up to about 500 kbps as it is typical in various PLC network applications. In particular, we are concerned with the receiver processing of the preamble signal and the actual design of preambles suitable for fast burst synchronization in such PLC systems. Our approach is comprehensive in that it takes into account the most distinctive characteristics of the power line channel, which are multipath propagation, highly varying path loss, and disturbance by impulse noise, as well as important practical constraints, especially the need for spectral shaping of the preamble signal and fast adjustment of the automatic gain control (AGC. In fact, we regard the explicit incorporation of these various requirements into the preamble design as the main contribution of this work. We devise an optimization criterion and a stochastic algorithm to search for suitable preamble sequences. A comprehensive performance comparison of a designed and two conventional preambles shows that the designed sequence is superior in terms of (a fast burst synchronization in various transmission environments, (b fast AGC adjustment, and (c compliance of its spectrum with the spectral mask applied to the data transmit signal.

A New Digital Signal Processing Method for Spectrum Interference Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Angrisani, L.; Capriglione, D.; Ferrigno, L.; Miele, G.

2011-01-01

Frequency spectrum is a limited shared resource, nowadays interested by an ever growing number of different applications. Generally, the companies providing such services pay to the governments the right of using a limited portion of the spectrum, consequently they would be assured that the licensed radio spectrum resource is not interested by significant external interferences. At the same time, they have to guarantee that their devices make an efficient use of the spectrum and meet the electromagnetic compatibility regulations. Therefore the competent authorities are called to control the access to the spectrum adopting suitable management and monitoring policies, as well as the manufacturers have to periodically verify the correct working of their apparatuses. Several measurement solutions are present on the market. They generally refer to real-time spectrum analyzers and measurement receivers. Both of them are characterized by good metrological accuracies but show costs, dimensions and weights that make no possible a use "on the field". The paper presents a first step in realizing a digital signal processing based measurement instrument able to suitably accomplish for the above mentioned needs. In particular the attention has been given to the DSP based measurement section of the instrument. To these aims an innovative measurement method for spectrum monitoring and management is proposed in this paper. It performs an efficient sequential analysis based on a sample by sample digital processing. Three main issues are in particular pursued: (i) measurement performance comparable to that exhibited by other methods proposed in literature; (ii) fast measurement time, (iii) easy implementation on cost-effective measurement hardware.

Normalized noise power spectrum of full field digital mammography system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norriza Mohd Isa; Wan Muhamad Saridan Wan Hassan

2009-01-01

A method to measure noise power spectrum of a full field digital mammography system is presented. The effect of X-ray radiation dose, size and configuration of region of interest on normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) was investigated. Flat field images were acquired using RQA-M2 beam quality technique (Mo/Mo anode-filter, 28 kV, 2 mm Al) with different clinical radiation doses. The images were cropped at about 4 cm from the edge of the breast wall and then divided into different size of non-overlapping or overlapping segments. NNPS was determined through detrending, 2-D fast Fourier transformation and normalization. Our measurement shows that high radiation dose gave lower NNPS at a specific beam quality. (Author)

Observation of fast-ion Doppler-shifted cyclotron resonance with shear Alfven waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yang; Heidbrink, W. W.; Boehmer, H.; McWilliams, R.; Vincena, S.; Carter, T. A.; Gekelman, W.; Leneman, D.; Pribyl, P.

2008-01-01

The Doppler-shifted cyclotron resonance (ω-k z v z =Ω f ) between fast ions and shear Alfven waves is experimentally investigated (ω, wave frequency; k z , axial wavenumber; v z , fast-ion axial speed; Ω f , fast-ion cyclotron frequency). A test particle beam of fast ions is launched by a Li + source in the helium plasma of the LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) [W. Gekelman, H. Pfister, Z. Lucky, J. Bamber, D. Leneman, and J. Maggs, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)], with shear Alfven waves (SAW) (amplitude δ B/B up to 1%) launched by a loop antenna. A collimated fast-ion energy analyzer measures the nonclassical spreading of the beam, which is proportional to the resonance with the wave. A resonance spectrum is observed by launching SAWs at 0.3-0.8ω ci . Both the magnitude and frequency dependence of the beam-spreading are in agreement with the theoretical prediction using a Monte Carlo Lorentz code that launches fast ions with an initial spread in real/velocity space and random phases relative to the wave. Measured wave magnetic field data are used in the simulation.

Spectrum of resistive MHD modes in cylindrical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryu, C.M.; Grimm, R.C.

1983-07-01

A numerical study of the normal modes of a compressible resistive MHD fluid in cylindrical geometry is presented. Resistivity resolves the shear Alfven and slow magnetosonic continua of ideal MHD into discrete spectra and gives rise to heavily damped modes whose frequencies lie on specific lines in the complex plane. Fast magnetosonic waves are less affected but are also damped. Overstable modes arise from the shear Alfven spectrum. The stabilizing effect of favorable average curvature is shown. Eigenfunctions illustrating the nature of typical normal modes are displayed

The vacuum profile of the energy spectrum compressor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuijsten, W.J.

1988-12-01

A finite element model has been made of the vacuum system of the Energy Spectrum Compressor. It gives the possibility to calculate the average pressure profile of the system in a fast way. It is required that the average pressure in the system does not influence the present performance of the linac nor the performance of the beam switch yard. Calculations show that with standard pumps of 60 l/s an average pressure of -5 Pa can be obtained. 7 refs.; 8 figs.; 2 tabs

Measurements of thermal and fast neutron fluxes at the TRIGA reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zerdin, F.; Grabovsek, Z.; Klinc, T.; Solinc, H.

1966-01-01

Gold foils were placed at different positions in the TRIGA reactor core and in the experimental devices. Absolute values of the thermal neutron flux at these positions were obtained by coincidence method. Preliminary fast neutron spectrum was measured by threshold detector and by 'Li 6 sandwich' detector. A short description of the applied method and obtained measurements results are included [sl

Integral test of JENDL dosimetry file using fast neutron field in the Experimental Fast Reactor JOYO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoyama, Takafumi; Sekine, Takashi

1999-09-01

In order to evaluate the applicability of the JENDL dosimetry file, an integral test using a fast neutron spectrum field in the Experimental Fast Reactor JOYO Mark-II core was performed. The dosimeter set consisting of eight reactions of 46 Ti(n,p) 46 Sc, 54 Fe(n,p) 54 Mn, 58 Fe(n,γ) 59 Fe, 58 Ni(n,p) 58 Co, 59 Co(n,γ) 60 Co, 63 Cu(n,α) 60 Co, 238 U fission and 237 Np fission was irradiated for approximately 30 days near the core center of the JOYO Mk-II. Neutron flux at the dosimeter position was calculated using the two dimensional discrete ordinate transport code 'DORT'. The core configuration was modeled in XY geometry, and the 100 group cross section set of JSD-J2 / JFT-J2, which was processed from JENDL-2, was utilized. The absolute value of neutron flux was normalized so that the 235 U fission rate using the calculated neutron spectrum agreed with the measured reaction rate. The 103 group cross section data were processed by 'NJOY' code for nuclides to be used in the JOYO dosimetry. As the results of integral test for JENDL/D-99 (new file) and JENDL/D-91 (previous file), calculated values by JENDL/D-99 agreed well with the experimental values, and the C/E ratios ranged from 0.95 to 1.22. By comparing the results between JENDL/D-99 and JENDL/D-91, small differences exist, except for 58 Fe(n, γ) 59 Fe reaction, which was improved significantly in JENDL/D-99. (author)

Fast breeder reactor research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

Full text: The meeting was attended by 15 participants from seven countries and two international organizations. The Eighth Annual Meeting of the International Working Group on Fast Reactors (IWGFR) was attended by representatives from France, Fed. Rep. Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America - countries that have made significant progress in developing the technology and physics of sodium cooled fast reactors and have extensive national programmes in this field - as well as by representatives of the Commission of the European Communities and the IAEA. The design of fast-reactor power plants is a more difficult task than developing facilities with thermal reactors. Different reactor kinetics and dynamics, a hard neutron spectrum, larger integral doses of fuel and structural material irradiation, higher core temperatures, the use of an essentially novel coolant, and, as a result of all these factors, the additional reliability and safety requirements that are imposed on the planning and operation of sodium cooled fast reactors - all these factors pose problems that can be solved comprehensively only by countries with a high level of scientific and technical development. The exchange of experience between these countries and their combined efforts in solving the fundamental problems that arise in planning, constructing and operating fast reactors are promoting technical progress and reducing the relative expenditure required for various studies on developing and introducing commercial fast reactors. For this reason, the meeting concentrated on reviewing and discussing national fast reactor programmes. The situation with regard to planning, constructing and operating fast experimental and demonstration reactors in the countries concerned, the experience accumulated in operating them, the difficulties arising during operation and ways of over-coming them, the search for optimal designs for the power

Fast multi-dimensional NMR by minimal sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Kupče, Ēriks; Freeman, Ray

2008-03-01

A new scheme is proposed for very fast acquisition of three-dimensional NMR spectra based on minimal sampling, instead of the customary step-wise exploration of all of evolution space. The method relies on prior experiments to determine accurate values for the evolving frequencies and intensities from the two-dimensional 'first planes' recorded by setting t1 = 0 or t2 = 0. With this prior knowledge, the entire three-dimensional spectrum can be reconstructed by an additional measurement of the response at a single location (t1∗,t2∗) where t1∗ and t2∗ are fixed values of the evolution times. A key feature is the ability to resolve problems of overlap in the acquisition dimension. Applied to a small protein, agitoxin, the three-dimensional HNCO spectrum is obtained 35 times faster than systematic Cartesian sampling of the evolution domain. The extension to multi-dimensional spectroscopy is outlined.

Spectrum estimation method based on marginal spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Jianhua; Hu Weiwen; Wang Xianchun

2011-01-01

FFT method can not meet the basic requirements of power spectrum for non-stationary signal and short signal. A new spectrum estimation method based on marginal spectrum from Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) was proposed. The procession of obtaining marginal spectrum in HHT method was given and the linear property of marginal spectrum was demonstrated. Compared with the FFT method, the physical meaning and the frequency resolution of marginal spectrum were further analyzed. Then the Hilbert spectrum estimation algorithm was discussed in detail, and the simulation results were given at last. The theory and simulation shows that under the condition of short data signal and non-stationary signal, the frequency resolution and estimation precision of HHT method is better than that of FFT method. (authors)

FAST: FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Travis J. Lawrence

2015-05-01

Full Text Available FAST (FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox provides simple, powerful open source command-line tools to filter, transform, annotate and analyze biological sequence data. Modeled after the GNU (GNU’s Not Unix Textutils such as grep, cut, and tr, FAST tools such as fasgrep, fascut, and fastr make it easy to rapidly prototype expressive bioinformatic workflows in a compact and generic command vocabulary. Compact combinatorial encoding of data workflows with FAST commands can simplify the documentation and reproducibility of bioinformatic protocols, supporting better transparency in biological data science. Interface self-consistency and conformity with conventions of GNU, Matlab, Perl, BioPerl, R and GenBank help make FAST easy and rewarding to learn. FAST automates numerical, taxonomic, and text-based sorting, selection and transformation of sequence records and alignment sites based on content, index ranges, descriptive tags, annotated features, and in-line calculated analytics, including composition and codon usage. Automated content- and feature-based extraction of sites and support for molecular population genetic statistics makes FAST useful for molecular evolutionary analysis. FAST is portable, easy to install and secure thanks to the relative maturity of its Perl and BioPerl foundations, with stable releases posted to CPAN. Development as well as a publicly accessible Cookbook and Wiki are available on the FAST GitHub repository at https://github.com/tlawrence3/FAST. The default data exchange format in FAST is Multi-FastA (specifically, a restriction of BioPerl FastA format. Sanger and Illumina 1.8+ FastQ formatted files are also supported. FAST makes it easier for non-programmer biologists to interactively investigate and control biological data at the speed of thought.

Specification of fast neutron radiation quality from cell transformation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppola, M.

1992-01-01

Experimental data on the neoplastic transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells measured at Casaccia after neutron and X-ray irradiation were used to determine neutron RBE values for the RSV-Tapiro fast reactor energy spectrum and for monoenergetic neutrons of 0.5, 1, and 6 MeV. In parallel, micro-dosimetric measurements provided the actual lineal energy distributions and related mean parameters for the reactor radiation. From these experiments, values of the neutron quality factor were derived for the reactor neutron energy spectrum and, in turn, for the other neutron energies tested. A mathematical expression giving a smooth dependence on neutron energy was also determined for the effective quality factor in the entire energy range examined. The results were compared with other proposals

Multiagent Reinforcement Learning Dynamic Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Chun

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A multiuser independent Q-learning method which does not need information interaction is proposed for multiuser dynamic spectrum accessing in cognitive radios. The method adopts self-learning paradigm, in which each CR user performs reinforcement learning only through observing individual performance reward without spending communication resource on information interaction with others. The reward is defined suitably to present channel quality and channel conflict status. The learning strategy of sufficient exploration, preference for good channel, and punishment for channel conflict is designed to implement multiuser dynamic spectrum accessing. In two users two channels scenario, a fast learning algorithm is proposed and the convergence to maximal whole reward is proved. The simulation results show that, with the proposed method, the CR system can obtain convergence of Nash equilibrium with large probability and achieve great performance of whole reward.

Fast delta Hadamard transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenimore, E.E.; Weston, G.S.

1981-01-01

In many fields (e.g., spectroscopy, imaging spectroscopy, photoacoustic imaging, coded aperture imaging) binary bit patterns known as m sequences are used to encode (by multiplexing) a series of measurements in order to obtain a larger throughput. The observed measurements must be decoded to obtain the desired spectrum (or image in the case of coded aperture imaging). Decoding in the past has used a technique called the fast Hadamard transform (FHT) whose chief advantage is that it can reduce the computational effort from N 2 multiplies of N log 2 N additions or subtractions. However, the FHT has the disadvantage that it does not readily allow one to sample more finely than the number of bits used in the m sequence. This can limit the obtainable resolution and cause confusion near the sample boundaries (phasing errors). Both 1-D and 2-D methods (called fast delta Hadamard transforms, FDHT) have been developed which overcome both of the above limitations. Applications of the FDHT are discussed in the context of Hadamard spectroscopy and coded aperture imaging with uniformly redundant arrays. Special emphasis has been placed on how the FDHT can unite techniques used by both of these fields into the same mathematical basis

Measurement and evaluation of fast neutron flux of CT and OR5 irradiation hole in HANARO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Seong Woo; Choo, Kee Nam; Lee, Seung-Kyu; Kim, Yong Kyun

2012-01-01

The irradiation test has been conducted to evaluate the irradiation performance of many materials by a material capsule at HANARO. Since the fast neutron fluence above 1 MeV is important for the irradiation test of material, it must be measured and evaluated exactly at each irradiation hole. Therefore, a fast neutron flux was measured and evaluated by a 09M-02K capsule irradiated in an OR5 irradiation hole and a 10M-01K capsule irradiated in a CT irradiation hole. Fe, Ni, and Ti wires as the fluence monitor were used for the detection of fast neutron flux. Before the irradiation test, the neutron flux and spectrum was calculated for each irradiation hole using an MCNP code. After the irradiation test, the activity of the fluence monitor was measured by an HPGe detector and the reaction rate was calculated. For the OR5 irradiation hole, the radial difference of the fast neutron flux was observed from a calculated data due to the OR5 irradiation hole being located outside the core. Furthermore, a control absorber rod was withdrawn from the core as the increase of the irradiation time at the same irradiation cycle, so the distribution of neutron flux was changed from the beginning to the end of the cycle. These effects were considered to evaluate the fast neutron flux. Neutron spectrums of the CT and OR5 irradiation hole were adjusted by the measured data. The fluxes of a fast neutron above 1 MeV were compared with calculated and measured value. Although the maximum difference was shown at 18.48%, most of the results showed good agreement. (author)

First measurement of the VESUVIO neutron spectrum in the 30-80 MeV energy range using a Proton Recoil Telescope technique

Science.gov (United States)

Cazzaniga, C.; Tardocchi, M.; Croci, G.; Frost, C.; Giacomelli, L.; Grosso, G.; Hjalmarsson, A.; Rebai, M.; Rhodes, N. J.; Schooneveld, E. M.; Gorini, G.

2013-11-01

Measurements of the fast neutron energy spectrum at the ISIS spallation source are reported. The measurements were performed with a Proton Recoil Telescope consisting of a thin plastic foil placed in the neutron beam and two scintillator detectors. Results in the neutron energy range 30 MeV < En < 80 MeV are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum.

Recognition of edible oil by using BP neural network and laser induced fluorescence spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Tao-tao; Chen, Si-ying; Zhang, Yin-chao; Guo, Pan; Chen, He; Zhang, Hong-yan; Liu, Xiao-hua; Wang, Yuan; Bu, Zhi-chao

2013-09-01

In order to accomplish recognition of the different edible oil we set up a laser induced fluorescence spectrum system in the laboratory based on Laser induced fluorescence spectrum technology, and then collect the fluorescence spectrum of different edible oil by using that system. Based on this, we set up a fluorescence spectrum database of different cooking oil. It is clear that there are three main peak position of different edible oil from fluorescence spectrum chart. Although the peak positions of all cooking oil were almost the same, the relative intensity of different edible oils was totally different. So it could easily accomplish that oil recognition could take advantage of the difference of relative intensity. Feature invariants were extracted from the spectrum data, which were chosen from the fluorescence spectrum database randomly, before distinguishing different cooking oil. Then back propagation (BP) neural network was established and trained by the chosen data from the spectrum database. On that basis real experiment data was identified by BP neural network. It was found that the overall recognition rate could reach as high as 83.2%. Experiments showed that the laser induced fluorescence spectrum of different cooking oil was very different from each other, which could be used to accomplish the oil recognition. Laser induced fluorescence spectrum technology, combined BP neural network，was fast, high sensitivity, non-contact, and high recognition rate. It could become a new technique to accomplish the edible oil recognition and quality detection.

Fast neutron response of coumarin in water and heavy water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnan, D.; Kher, R.K.; Gopakumar, K.; Bhandari, N.S.

1979-01-01

Response of coumarin in aqueous solution has been studied earlier for gamma rays and fast neutrons by fluorescence measurement. For further fast neutron studies, two systems viz coumarin in H 2 0 and coumarin in D 2 0, were irradiated with fast neutrons in SNIF facility in the swimming pool type APSARA reactor at Trombay. Neutron fluence was estimated by measuring induced activity in sulphur pellet and associated gamma radiation was estimated using CaS0 4 :Dy TLD powder. The KERMA values were calculated for H 2 0 and D 2 0, assuming modified fission spectrum for fast neutron in SNIF position, and they were in the ratio of 2:1. Response of a chemical dosimetric system is expected to be proportional to the absorbed dose in the respective system for the same neutron fluence. This was experimentally found to be the case for coumarin in H 2 0 or D 2 0. These results are likely to be true in general for any aqueous chemical system. The limitations of using such a dual system for dosimetry in a mixed field is discussed. (author)

Fast neutron dosimetry by means of different solid state nuclear track detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spurny, F.; Turek, K.

1977-01-01

The comparative study of three different types of fast neutron dosimeters based on solid state nuclear track detectors is presented; the dosimeters studied were: - microscopic soda glass in contact with 232 Th; - polycarbonate Makrofol E; and - cellulose nitrate Kodak LR 115. All detectors were evaluated by visual counting in a microscope. The authors have studied such properties as the background, angular as well as energetical dependences of detectors. The results obtained show that all studied detectors are suitable for fast neutron dosimetry; their application depends however on the concrete experimental conditions (neutron spectrum, fluence etc.). Both advantages and disadvantages of each of them are presented. (Auth.)

Edge turbulence effect on ultra-fast swept reflectometry core measurements in tokamak plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Zadvitskiy, G. V.; Heuraux, S.; Lechte, C.; Hacquin, S.; Sabot, R.

2018-02-01

Ultra-fast frequency-swept reflectometry (UFSR) enables one to provide information about the turbulence radial wave-number spectrum and perturbation amplitude with good spatial and temporal resolutions. However, a data interpretation of USFR is quiet tricky. An iterative algorithm to solve this inverse problem was used in past works, Gerbaud (2006 Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77 10E928). For a direct solution, a fast 1D Helmholtz solver was used. Two-dimensional effects are strong and should be taken into account during data interpretation. As 2D full-wave codes are still too time consuming for systematic application, fast 2D approaches based on the Born approximation are of prime interest. Such methods gives good results in the case of small turbulence levels. However in tokamak plasmas, edge turbulence is usually very strong and can distort and broaden the probing beam Sysoeva et al (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 033016). It was shown that this can change reflectometer phase response from the plasma core. Comparison between 2D full wave computation and the simplified Born approximation was done. The approximated method can provide a right spectral shape, but it is unable to describe a change of the spectral amplitude with an edge turbulence level. Computation for the O-mode wave with the linear density profile in the slab geometry and for realistic Tore-Supra density profile, based on the experimental data turbulence amplitude and spectrum, were performed to investigate the role of strong edge turbulence. It is shown that the spectral peak in the signal amplitude variation spectrum which rises with edge turbulence can be a signature of strong edge turbulence. Moreover, computations for misaligned receiving and emitting antennas were performed. It was found that the signal amplitude variation peak changes its position with a receiving antenna poloidal displacement.

THz and Sub-THz Capabilities of a Table-Top Radiation Source Driven by an RF Thermionic Electron Gun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smirnov, Alexei V.; Agustsson, R.; Boucher, S.; Campese, Tara; Chen, Y.C.; Hartzell, Josiah J.; Jocobson, B.T.; Murokh, A.; O' Shea, F.H.; Spranza, E.; Berg, W.; Borland, M.; Dooling, J. C.; Erwin, L.; Lindberg, R. R.; Pasky, S.J.; Sereno, N.; Sun, Y.; Zholents, A.

2017-06-01

Design features and experimental results are presented for a sub-mm wave source [1] based on APS RF thermionic electron gun. The setup includes compact alpha-magnet, quadrupoles, sub-mm-wave radiators, and THz optics. The sub-THz radiator is a planar, oversized structure with gratings. Source upgrade for generation frequencies above 1 THz is discussed. The THz radiator will use a short-period undulator having 1 T field amplitude, ~20 cm length, and integrated with a low-loss oversized waveguide. Both radiators are integrated with a miniature horn antenna and a small ~90°-degree in-vacuum bending magnet. The electron beamline is designed to operate different modes including conversion to a flat beam interacting efficiently with the radiator. The source can be used for cancer diagnostics, surface defectoscopy, and non-destructive testing. Sub-THz experiment demonstrated a good potential of a robust, table-top system for generation of a narrow bandwidth THz radiation. This setup can be considered as a prototype of a compact, laser-free, flexible source capable of generation of long trains of Sub-THz and THz pulses with repetition rates not available with laser-driven sources.

Precursory changes in seismic velocity for the spectrum of earthquake failure modes

Science.gov (United States)

Scuderi, M.M.; Marone, C.; Tinti, E.; Di Stefano, G.; Collettini, C.

2016-01-01

Temporal changes in seismic velocity during the earthquake cycle have the potential to illuminate physical processes associated with fault weakening and connections between the range of fault slip behaviors including slow earthquakes, tremor and low frequency earthquakes1. Laboratory and theoretical studies predict changes in seismic velocity prior to earthquake failure2, however tectonic faults fail in a spectrum of modes and little is known about precursors for those modes3. Here we show that precursory changes of wave speed occur in laboratory faults for the complete spectrum of failure modes observed for tectonic faults. We systematically altered the stiffness of the loading system to reproduce the transition from slow to fast stick-slip and monitored ultrasonic wave speed during frictional sliding. We find systematic variations of elastic properties during the seismic cycle for both slow and fast earthquakes indicating similar physical mechanisms during rupture nucleation. Our data show that accelerated fault creep causes reduction of seismic velocity and elastic moduli during the preparatory phase preceding failure, which suggests that real time monitoring of active faults may be a means to detect earthquake precursors. PMID:27597879

Fast reactor operation in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, R.R.; Cissel, D.W.

1978-01-01

Of the many American facilities dedicated to fast reactor technology, six qualify as liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors. All of these satisfy the following criteria: an unmoderated neutron spectrum, highly enriched fuel material, substantial heat production, and the use of a liquid metal coolant. These include the following: EBR-I Clementine, LAMPRE, EBR-II, EFFBR, and SEFOR. Collectively, these facilities encompassed all of the more important features of liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor technology. Coolant types ranged from mercury in Clementine, to NaK in EBR-I, and sodium in the others. Fuels included enriched-uranium metallic alloys in EBR-I, EBR-II, and EFFBR; metallic plutonium in Clementine; molten plutonium alloy in LAMPRE; and a mixed UO 2 -PuO 2 ceramic in SEFOR. Heat removal techniques ranged from air-blast cooling in LAMPRE and SEFOR; steam-electrical generation in EBR-I, EBR-II, and EFFBR; to a mercury-to-water heat dump in Clementine. Operational experience with such diverse systems has contributed heavily to the U.S. Each of the six systems is described from the viewpoints of purpose, history, design, and operation. Attempts are made to limit descriptive material to the most important features and to refer the reader to a few select references if additional information is needed

Normalized noise power spectrum of full field digital mammography detector system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norriza Mohd Isa; Wan Muhamad Saridan Wan Hassan

2009-01-01

Full text: A method to measure noise power spectrum of a full field digital mammography system is presented. The effect of X-ray radiation dose, size and configuration of region of interest on normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) was investigated. Flat field images were acquired using RQA-M2 beam quality technique (Mo/Mo anode-filter, 28 kV, 2 mm Al) with different clinical radiation doses. The images were cropped at about 4 cm from the edge of the breast wall and then divided into different size of non-overlapping or overlapping segments. NNPS was determined through de trending, 2-D fast Fourier transformation and normalization. Our measurement shows that high radiation dose gave lower NNPS at a specific beam quality. (author)

Spectrum 101: An Introduction to Spectrum Management

Science.gov (United States)

2004-03-01

produces a Joint Restricted Frequency List (JRFL). The JFRL consolidates and classifies the spectrum uses that are most critical to operations and to...Management Office JRFL Joint Restricted Frequency List JSC Joint Spectrum Center JSIR Joint Spectrum Interference Resolution JSME Joint Spectrum...Multifunctional Information Distribution System MILSATCOM Military Satellite Communications MOA Memorandum of Agreement MRFL Master Radio Frequency

Cylindrical angular spectrum using Fourier coefficients of point light source and its application to fast hologram calculation.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Seungtaik; Jeong, Il Kwon

2015-11-16

We will introduce a new simple analytic formula of the Fourier coefficient of the 3D field distribution of a point light source to generate a cylindrical angular spectrum which captures the object wave in 360° in the 3D Fourier space. Conceptually, the cylindrical angular spectrum can be understood as a cylindrical version of the omnidirectional spectral approach of Sando et al. Our Fourier coefficient formula is based on an intuitive observation that a point light radiates uniformly in all directions. Our formula is defined over all frequency vectors lying on the entire sphere in the 3D Fourier space and is more natural and computationally more efficient for all around recording of the object wave than that of the previous omnidirectional spectral method. A generalized frequency-based occlusion culling method for an arbitrary complex object is also proposed to enhance the 3D quality of a hologram. As a practical application of the cylindrical angular spectrum, an interactive hologram example is presented together with implementation details.

Using activation method to measure neutron spectrum in an irradiation chamber of a research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Xuemei; Liu Guimin; Wang Xiaohe; Li Da; Meng Lingjie

2014-01-01

Neutron spectrum should be measured before test samples are irradiated. Neutron spectrum in an irradiation chamber of a research reactor was measured by using activation method when the reactor is in normal operation under 2 MW. Sixteen kinds of non-fission foils (19 reaction channels) were selected, of which 10 were sensitive to thermal and intermediate energy regions, while the others were of different threshold energy and sensitive to fast energy regions. By measuring the foil radioactivity, the neutron spectrum was unfolded with the iterative methods SAND-II and MSIT. Finally, shielding corrections of group cross-section and main factors affecting the calculation accuracy were studied and the uncertainty of solution was analyzed using the Monte Carlo method in the process of SAND-II. (authors)

Neutron spectrum measurements from a neutron guide tube facility at the ETRR-1 reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maayouf, R M.A.; El-Sayed, L A.A.; El-Kady, A S.I. [Reactor and Neutron Physics Dept., NRC, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

1997-12-31

The present work deals with measurements of the neutron spectrum emitted from a neutron guide tube (NGT) recently installed at one of the ETRR-1 reactor horizontal channels designed to deliver thermal neutrons, free from fast neutrons and gamma ray background, to a fourier reverse-time-of-flight (RTOF) diffractometer. The measurements were performed using a {sup 6} Li glass scintillation detector combined with a multichannel analyzer set at channel width 4 M sec and installed at 3.4 m from a disc Fermi chopper. Also a theoretical model was specially developed for the neutron spectrum calculations. According to the model developed, the spectrum calculated was found to be in good agreement with the measured one. It was found, both from measurements and calculations, that the spectrum emitted from the NGT covers, after transmission through a fourier chopper, neutron wavelengths from 1-4 A adequate for neutron diffraction measurements at D values between 0.71-2.9 A respectively. 6 FIGS.

Moessbauer study of the fast magnetization reversal forced in permalloy and invar by an external rf magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopcewicz, M.

1978-01-01

The effect of fast magnetization reversal leading to fast relaxation of the hyperfine field (collapse effect) forced by an external rf magnetic field is studied using the Moessbauer technique for permalloy and invar. The rf collapse and sideband effects are investigated as a function of external rf field, frequency, and intensity. The collapse of the hfs spectrum through unresolved hfs spectrum, triangular shape to a single line, as well as the formation of sidebands is observed. The rf collapse effect is attributed to the rf forced uniform rotation of internal magnetization which causes fast magnetization reversal leading to fast relaxation of the hyperfine field as a result of which the average field at the Moessbauer nuclei is reduced to zero. The difference of the magnetization reversal process in permalloy and invar are discussed. It is shown that the origin of collapse and sideband effects is totaly different: the collapse effect being of purely magnetic origin while the formation of sidebands is due to the rf induced mechanical vibrations of iron atoms within the sample. It is possible to damp sidebands without affecting the collapse effect. The results obtained show that the application of the rf field to ferromagnetic materials gives a unique possibility to force, simulate, and control the relaxation effects in ferromagnetic materials. (author)

Spectroscopic vector analysis for fast pattern quality monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Sohn, Younghoon; Ryu, Sungyoon; Lee, Chihoon; Yang, Yusin

2018-03-01

In semiconductor industry, fast and effective measurement of pattern variation has been key challenge for assuring massproduct quality. Pattern measurement techniques such as conventional CD-SEMs or Optical CDs have been extensively used, but these techniques are increasingly limited in terms of measurement throughput and time spent in modeling. In this paper we propose time effective pattern monitoring method through the direct spectrum-based approach. In this technique, a wavelength band sensitive to a specific pattern change is selected from spectroscopic ellipsometry signal scattered by pattern to be measured, and the amplitude and phase variation in the wavelength band are analyzed as a measurement index of the pattern change. This pattern change measurement technique is applied to several process steps and verified its applicability. Due to its fast and simple analysis, the methods can be adapted to the massive process variation monitoring maximizing measurement throughput.

Transient phenomena in bounded fast multiplying assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraft, T.E.

1976-01-01

A generalized dispersion formalism is developed in the context of time-, space-, and energy-dependent transport theory. The evolution of the neutron population in a fast multiplying system following an initial burst of neutrons is examined. The generalized dispersion law obtained is an integral equation, in one variable, for the Laplace and Fourier transformed time- and space-dependent sources of fission neutrons. An approximation technique is shown to generate solutions which converge in L 2 norm to the exact solution for exact elastic, exact inelastic, Goertzel-Grueling or Wigner scattering kernels, and any reasonable fission spectrum

On fast-ion transport and burn control in Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wising, F.

1994-01-01

Fast ions, generated by e.g. neutral beam injection (NBI), radio frequency (RF) heating or nuclear reactions, play an important role in all large tokamaks. Several issues related to fast ions and burning fusion plasmas are addressed in this thesis. Firstly, a new model of sawtooth oscillations is developed which explains the recent observations that q 0 remains below unity during the entire sawtooth cycle. The model features full reconnection in two current layers and provides a self-consistent description of the plasma states before and after the sawtooth crash. It is applied to the redistribution of fast NBI-ions in JET and comparisons are made with global as well as line-of-sight integrated D-D neutron measurements. Both the new model and the classical Kadomtsev model are found to be in agreement with the measurements. A simplified redistribution model is developed and applied to the redistribution of tritons and thermal ions, again giving reasonable agreement with D-T/D-D neutron measurements. Using a separate method, earlier results on expulsion of NBI-ions are confirmed. Secondly, a numerical study has been carried out of the coupled nonlinear evolution of alpha-particle driven kinetic Alfven wave turbulence and associated alpha transport. The saturated fluctuation spectrum consists of two peaks and results from nonlinear ion Compton scattering-induced transfer of energy from longer to shorter wavelengths. An analytical solution of the saturated spectrum, and estimates of the anomalous alpha diffusion coefficient, are given. The final paper addresses the problem of determining whether an initial temperature profile, established by e.g. auxiliary heating, will evolve to thermonuclear burn or quench under the influence of alpha particle heating and thermal conduction. Explicit burn criteria are presented and the beneficial effects of density and temperature peaking are discussed. 110 refs

Detection of local inflammation induced by repeated exposure to contact allergens by use of IVIS SpectrumCT analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten M.; Schmidt, Jonas D.; Christensen, Jan P.

2017-01-01

Background: Contact allergy is characterized by local skin inflammation that, in some cases, can result in systemic immune activation. Objectives: To investigate whether IVIS SpectrumCT analyses can be used to detect the immune response induced by contact allergens. Methods: Mice were repeatedly...... exposed to vehicle or allergens on the ears. The local and systemic responses were analysed at different times with the ProSense 750 FAST probe in IVIS SpectrumCT measurements. In addition, changes in ear thickness, cytokine profile in the skin and immunological phenotype in the draining lymph nodes...... and spleen were determined. Results: Local inflammation was detected by ProSense 750 FAST and correlated with changes in ear thickness, cytokine profile and immunological phenotype following exposure to the strong contact allergen 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene. Analysis of the systemic response with ProSense 750...

First measurement of the VESUVIO neutron spectrum in the 30–80 MeV energy range using a Proton Recoil Telescope technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cazzaniga, C; Tardocchi, M; Croci, G; Grosso, G; Rebai, M; Gorini, G; Frost, C; Rhodes, N J; Schooneveld, E M; Giacomelli, L; Hjalmarsson, A

2013-01-01

Measurements of the fast neutron energy spectrum at the ISIS spallation source are reported. The measurements were performed with a Proton Recoil Telescope consisting of a thin plastic foil placed in the neutron beam and two scintillator detectors. Results in the neutron energy range 30 MeV n < 80 MeV are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum

Development of a novel thermionic RF electron gun applied on a compact THz-FEL facility

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, T. N.; Pei, Y. J.; Qin, B.; Liu, K. F.; Feng, G. Y.

2018-04-01

The current requirements from civil and commercial applications lead to the development of compact free-electron laser (FEL)-based terahertz (THz) radiation sources. A picosecond electron gun plays an important role in an FEL-THz facility and attracts significant attention, as machine performance is very sensitive to initial conditions. A novel thermionic gun with an external cathode (EC) and two independently tunable cavities (ITCs) has been found to be a promising alternative to conventional electron sources due to its remarkable characteristics, and correspondingly an FEL injector can achieve a balance between a compact layout and high brightness benefitting from the velocity bunching properties and RF focusing effects in the EC-ITC gun. Nevertheless, the EC-ITC gun has not been extensively examined as part of the FEL injector in the past years. In this regard, to fill this gap, a development focusing on the experimental setup of an FEL injector based on an EC-ITC gun is described in detail. Before assembly, dynamic beam simulations were performed to investigate the optimal mounting position for the Linac associated with the focusing coils, and a suitable radio-frequency (RF) system was established based on a power coupling design and allocation. The testing bench proved to be fully functional through basic experiments using typical diagnostic approaches for estimating primary parameters. Associated with dynamic beam calculations, a performance evaluation for an EC-ITC gun was established while providing indirect testing results for an FEL injector.

The Properties of Binary and Ternary Ti Based Coatings Produced by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelia Mandes

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A series of the multicomponent thin films (binary: Ti-C; Ti-Ag and ternary: Ti-C-Ag; Ti-C-Al were fabricated by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA technology in order to study the wear resistance and the anticorrosion properties. The effects of Ti amount on the microstructure, tribological and morphological properties were subsequently investigated. TVA is an original deposition method using a combination of anodic arc and electron gun systems for the growth of films. The samples were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM and a transmission electron microscope (TEM accompanied by selected area electron diffraction (SAED. Tribological properties were studied by a ball-on-disc tribometer in the dry regime and the wettability was assessed by measuring the contact angle with the See System apparatus. Wear Rate results indicate an improved sliding wear behavior for Ti-C-Ag: 1.31 × 10−7 mm3/N m (F = 2 N compared to Ti-C-Al coating wear rate: 4.24 × 10−7 mm3/N m. On the other hand, by increasing the normal load to 3 N an increase to the wear rate was observed for Ti-C-Ag: 2.58 × 10−5 mm3 compared to 2.33 × 10−6 mm3 for Ti-C-Al coating.

Development of high-current-density LAB6 thermionic emitters for a space-charge-limited electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herniter, M.E.; Getty, W.D.

1987-01-01

An electron gun has been developed for investigation of high current density, space charge limited operation of a lenthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ) thermionic cathode. The 2.8 cm 2 cathode disk is heated by electron bombardment from a tungsten filament. For LaB 6 cathode temperatures greater than 1600 0 C it has been found that evaporation from the LaB 6 causes an increase in the tungsten filament emission, leading to an instability in the bombardment heating system. This instability has been investigated and eliminated by using a graphite disk in place of the LaB 6 cathode or by shielding the filament from the LaB 6 cathode by placing the LaB 6 in a graphite cup and bombarding the cup. The graphite disk has been heated to 1755 0 C with 755 W of heating power, and the shielded LaB 6 cathode has been heated to 1695 0 C. This temperature range is required for emission current densities in the 30 Acm 2 range. It is believed that the evaporation of lanthanum lowers the tungsten work function. In electron-gun use, the LaB 6 cathode has been operated up to 6.7 Acm 2 at 36 kV. A 120 kV Marx generator has been built to allow operation up to 40 Acm 2

Structural and Mechanical Properties of Nanostructured C-Ag Thin Films Synthesized by Thermionic Vacuum Arc Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodica Vladoiu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nanostructured C-Ag thin films of 200 nm thickness were successfully synthesized by the Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA method. The influence of different substrates (glass, silicon wafers, and stainless steel on the microstructure, morphology, and mechanical properties of nanostructured C-Ag thin films was characterized by High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM, and TI 950 (Hysitron nanoindenter equipped with Berkovich indenter, respectively. The film’s hardness deposited on glass (HC-Ag/Gl = 1.8 GPa was slightly lower than in the case of the C-Ag film deposited on a silicon substrate (HC-Ag/Si = 2.2 GPa. Also the apparent elastic modulus Eeff was lower for C-Ag/Gl sample (Eeff = 100 GPa than for C-Ag/Si (Eeff = 170 GPa, while the values for average roughness are Ra=2.9 nm (C-Ag/Si and Ra=10.6 (C-Ag/Gl. Using the modulus mapping mode, spontaneous and indentation-induced aggregation of the silver nanoparticles was observed for both C-Ag/Gl and C-Ag/Si samples. The nanocomposite C-Ag film exhibited not only higher hardness and effective elastic modulus, but also a higher fracture resistance toughness to the silicon substrate compared to the glass substrate.

Spectrum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høgfeldt Hansen, Leif

2016-01-01

The publication functions as a proces description of the development and construction of an urban furniture SPECTRUM in the city of Gwangju, Republic of Korea. It is used as the cataloque for the exhibition of Spectrum.......The publication functions as a proces description of the development and construction of an urban furniture SPECTRUM in the city of Gwangju, Republic of Korea. It is used as the cataloque for the exhibition of Spectrum....

Nonstandard neutrino self-interactions in a supernova and fast flavor conversions

Science.gov (United States)

Dighe, Amol; Sen, Manibrata

2018-02-01

We study the effects of nonstandard self-interactions (NSSI) of neutrinos streaming out of a core-collapse supernova. We show that with NSSI, the standard linear stability analysis gives rise to linearly as well as exponentially growing solutions. For a two-box spectrum, we demonstrate analytically that flavor-preserving NSSI lead to a suppression of bipolar collective oscillations. In the intersecting four-beam model, we show that flavor-violating NSSI can lead to fast oscillations even when the angle between the neutrino and antineutrino beams is obtuse, which is forbidden in the standard model. This leads to the new possibility of fast oscillations in a two-beam system with opposing neutrino-antineutrino fluxes, even in the absence of any spatial inhomogeneities. Finally, we solve the full nonlinear equations of motion in the four-beam model numerically, and explore the interplay of fast and slow flavor conversions in the long-time behavior, in the presence of NSSI.

International conference on fast reactors and related fuel cycles (FR09): Challenges and opportunities. CN-176 presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Renewed interest in nuclear energy is driven by the need to develop carbon free energy sources, by demographics and development in emerging economies, as well as by security of supply concerns. It is expected that nuclear energy will deliver huge amounts of energy to both emerging and developed economies. However, acceptance of large scale contributions would depend on satisfaction of key drivers to enhance sustainability in terms of economics, safety, adequacy of natural resources, waste reduction, non-proliferation and public acceptance. Fast spectrum reactors with recycle enhance the sustainability indices significantly. This has led to the focus on fast spectrum reactors with recycle in the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) and the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) initiative of the IAEA. It is expected that 2009 will register major events in the domain of fast spectrum reactors, that is, the restart of Monju in Japan, the first criticality of the China Experimental Fast Reactor in China, as well as new insights through end-of-life studies in Phenix, France. New fast reactors are expected to be commissioned in the near future: the 500 MW(e) Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor in India and the BN-800 unit in the Russian Federation. Moreover, China, France, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States of America are preparing advanced prototypes/ demonstrations and/or commercial reactors for the 2020-2030 horizon. The necessary condition for successful fast reactor deployment in the near and mid-term is the understanding and assessment of innovative technological and design options, based on both past knowledge and experience, as well as on ongoing research and technology development efforts. In this respect, the need for in-depth international information exchange is underscored by the fact that the last large international fast reactor conference was held as far back as 1991. Since then, progress in research

Application of hafnium hydride control rod to large sodium cooled fast breeder reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikeda, Kazumi, E-mail: kazumi_ikeda@mfbr.mhi.co.jp [Mitsubishi FBR Systems, Inc., 34-17, Jingumae 2-Chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 (Japan); Moriwaki, Hiroyuki, E-mail: hiroyuki_moriwaki@mfbr.mhi.co.jp [Mitsubishi FBR Systems, Inc., 34-17, Jingumae 2-Chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 (Japan); Ohkubo, Yoshiyuki, E-mail: yoshiyuki_okubo@mfbr.mhi.co.jp [Mitsubishi FBR Systems, Inc., 34-17, Jingumae 2-Chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 (Japan); Iwasaki, Tomohiko, E-mail: tomohiko.iwasaki@qse.tohoku.ac.jp [Department of Quantum Science and Energy Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi-ken 980-8579 (Japan); Konashi, Kenji, E-mail: konashi@imr.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Narita-cho, Oarai-machi, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki-ken 311-1313 (Japan)

2014-10-15

Highlights: • Application of hafnium hydride control rod to large sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. • This paper treats application of an innovative hafnium hydride control rod to a large sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. • Hydrogen absorption triples the reactivity worth by neutron spectrum shift at H/Hf ratio of 1.3. • Lifetime of the control rod quadruples because produced daughters of hafnium isotopes are absorbers. • Nuclear and thermal hydraulic characteristics of the reactor are as good as or better than B-10 enriched boron carbide. - Abstract: This study treats the feasibility of long-lived hafnium hydride control rod in a large sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor by nuclear and thermal analyses. According to the nuclear calculations, it is found that hydrogen absorption of hafnium triples the reactivity by the neutron spectrum shift at the H/Hf ratio of 1.3, and a hafnium transmutation mechanism that produced daughters are absorbers quadruples the lifetime due to a low incineration rate of absorbing nuclides under irradiation. That is to say, the control rod can function well for a long time because an irradiation of 2400 EFPD reduces the reactivity by only 4%. The calculation also reveals that the hafnium hydride control rod can apply to the reactor in that nuclear and thermal characteristics become as good as or better than 80% B-10 enriched boron carbide. For example, the maximum linear heat rate becomes 3% lower. Owing to the better power distribution, the required flow rate decreases approximately by 1%. Consequently, it is concluded on desk analyses that the long lived hafnium hydride control rod is feasible in the large sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor.

Use of new threshold detector 199Hg(n,n')/sup 199m/Hg for neutron spectrum unfolding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, K.

1982-01-01

The nuclear data for the 199 Hg(n,n')/sup 199m/Hg reaction are reviewed and the data are used for neutron spectrum unfolding. The neutron spectrum of the YAYOI glory-hole is unfolded by SAND II with 10 nuclear reactions including the 199 Hg(n,n')/sup 199m/Hg reaction. The ratio of the measured reaction rate to the calculated reaction rate is about 1:1.1 for the guess spectrum. The 199 Hg(n,n')/sup 199m/Hg, 115 In(n,n')/sup 115m/In, 103 Rh(n,n')/sup 103m/Rh reactions should be useful threshold detectors for the neutron dosimetry with low level fast neutron flux

Reflector drums as control mechanism for craft thermionic reactors with constant emitter heating containing U-233 as fuel and beryllium as moderator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, S.; Selvi, S.

1980-01-01

The suitability of borated reflector drums has been investigated and shown as a control mechanism for space craft thermionic reactors with constant emitter heating using U-233 as fuel and beryllium to be moderator, mainly due to their extremce compactness and their very soft neutron sepctrum. The achievable change in ksub(eff) allows long-term control operation with success. The use of reflector drums keeps the cone diameter and the mass of the radiation shield on minimum. The distortion of the emitter heating field remains under acceptable tolerances, mainly due to the enhanced neutron production at the outer core region and the remaining reflector part between the boron layer and the core. All neutron physics calculations have been carried out using the multigroup Ssub(N) methods. Three data groups for r-theta-calculations in S 4 -P 1 approximation (16 space angles) have been evaluated from a 123-energy-groups data library using transport theoretical methods. (orig.) [de

Fast mapping algorithm of lighting spectrum and GPS coordinates for a large area

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chih-Wei; Hsu, Ke-Fang; Hwang, Jung-Min

2016-09-01

In this study, we propose a fast rebuild technology for evaluating light quality in large areas. Outdoor light quality, which is measured by illuminance uniformity and the color rendering index, is difficult to conform after improvement. We develop an algorithm for a lighting quality mapping system and coordinates using a micro spectrometer and GPS tracker integrated with a quadcopter or unmanned aerial vehicle. After cruising at a constant altitude, lighting quality data is transmitted and immediately mapped to evaluate the light quality in a large area.

PSU-LEOPARD, Program LEOPARD in PFMP System, Fast Neutron and Thermal Neutron Spectra Calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrovic, B.G.; Smuc, T.; Pevec, D.; Grgic, D.

1992-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: LEOPARD is a unit cell code for generating two and/or four group constants for PWR fuel assemblies. It assumes that the fuel assembly consists of a large array of identical unit cells, each unit cell being composed of a fuel pin and cladding, surrounded by a moderator. A non-lattice part of the fuel assembly is accounted for by introducing an 'extra' region. The most important feature of PSU-LEOPARD is the capability to fit the group constants as polynomials in burnup and soluble boron concentration, providing easily accessible data for in-core fuel management calculations. The polynomial coefficients are stored in a file called ADD (Assembly Data Description) in a Format compatible with the MCRAC code. RBI version 90.1 of PSU-LEOPARD (PC, IBM mainframe and VAX versions) includes a restart option, numerically more stable polynomial fit, PC and VAX timing routines, and a few other new options. 2 - Method of solution: LEOPARD is a spectrum dependent non-spatial depletion code, based on the modified MUFT and SOFOCATE models. The MUFT model, dividing the fast energy range into 54 energy groups, calculates the fast constants by utilizing the B1 and Grueling-Goertzel approximations. The SOFOCATE model, representing the thermal energy range by 172 energy levels, calculates the thermal constants averaged over the Wigner-Wilkins spectrum. ABH method is used to homogenize the unit cell for each energy level to provide the equivalent homogeneous macroscopic Cross sections for use with Wigner-Wilkins spectrum. The LEOPARD energy range is from zero eV to 10 MeV with a 0.625 eV cutoff between the fast and thermal groups. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: PSU-LEOPARD works with Nuclides commonly used in water reactors. Thorium and U-238 chains are allowed

What can we learn from unpolarized and polarized electroproduction of fast baryons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artru, X.

1991-01-01

Two applications of semi-inclusive electroproduction of fast baryons are presented: (i) The steepness of the baryon spectrum at medium rapidity can give information about the general mechanisms of baryon production in soft and hard processes. (ii) With a polarized target and a detector which analyses the polarization of final Λ's, the aptitude of quarks to carry transverse polarization can be tested for the first time

Design and construction of a fast (neutron) spectrometer for magnetic confinement fusion studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lagattu, A.

1980-09-01

Neutron emission in conjunction with the 'Tokamak' devices studied in order to carry out controlled fusion is done at present on a short time scale (a few hundred milliseconds). Obtaining spectrometric information on this emission made it necessary to design sufficiently fast equipment to adapt to this situation. The basis of the equipment selected is conventional: NE213 liquid scintillator in conjunction with a fast photomultiplier. A commercialized fast neutron gamma discriminator (approximately 210 5 S -1 ) was used. The data acquisition and processing system was specially made for this occasion. This assembly, so designed and constructed, was tested on a particle accelerator and on the TFR Tokamak. In the best conditions a spectrum of 60 milliseconds was produced. Hence several spectra can be recorded during an experiment. The rejection of gamma radiations by the discriminator exceeds 99% in such conditions [fr

MCNPX simulations of fast neutron diagnostics for accelerator-driven systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habob, Moinul

2005-12-15

In accelerator-driven systems, the neutron spectrum will extend all the way up to the incident beam energy, i.e., several hundred MeV or even up to GeV energies. The high neutron energy allows novel diagnostics with a set of measurement techniques that can be used in a sub-critical reactor environment. Such measurements are primarily connected to system safety and validation. This report shows that in-core fast-neutron diagnostics can be employed to monitor changes in the position of incidence of the primary proton beam onto the neutron production target. It has also been shown that fast neutrons can be used to detect temperature-dependent density changes in a liquid lead-bismuth target. Fast neutrons can escape the system via the beam pipe for the incident proton beam. Out-of-core monitoring of these so called back-streaming neutrons could potentially be used to monitor beam changes if the target has a suitable shape. Moreover, diagnostics of back-streaming neutrons might be used for validation of the system design.

MCNPX simulations of fast neutron diagnostics for accelerator-driven systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habib, Moinul

2005-12-01

In accelerator-driven systems, the neutron spectrum will extend all the way up to the incident beam energy, i.e., several hundred MeV or even up to GeV energies. The high neutron energy allows novel diagnostics with a set of measurement techniques that can be used in a sub-critical reactor environment. Such measurements are primarily connected to system safety and validation. This report shows that in-core fast-neutron diagnostics can be employed to monitor changes in the position of incidence of the primary proton beam onto the neutron production target. It has also been shown that fast neutrons can be used to detect temperature-dependent density changes in a liquid lead-bismuth target. Fast neutrons can escape the system via the beam pipe for the incident proton beam. Out-of-core monitoring of these so called back-streaming neutrons could potentially be used to monitor beam changes if the target has a suitable shape. Moreover, diagnostics of back-streaming neutrons might be used for validation of the system design

A Simplified Supercritical Fast Reactor with Thorium Fuel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Super-Critical water-cooled Fast Reactor (SCFR is a feasible option for the Gen-IV SCWR designs, in which much less moderator and thus coolant are needed for transferring the fission heat from the core compared with the traditional LWRs. The fast spectrum of SCFR is useful for fuel breeding and thorium utilization, which is then beneficial for enhancing the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle. A SCFR core is constructed in this work, with the aim of simplifying the mechanical structure and keeping negative coolant void reactivity during the whole core life. A core burnup simulation scheme based on Monte Carlo lattice homogenization is adopted in this study, and the reactor physics analysis has been performed with DU-MOX and Th-MOX fuel. The main issues discussed include the fuel conversion ratio and the coolant void reactivity. The analysis shows that thorium-based fuel can provide inherent safety for SCFR without use of blanket, which is favorable for the mechanical design of SCFR.

Experimental measurement of neutron spectrum in the reflector of a light water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brethe, P.

1963-09-01

1. Thermal neutrons: The temperature of the thermal neutron spectrum was calculated using Au-Lu foils. This temperature varies from 300 deg. K (temperature of the moderator) at 30 cm of the core to 350 deg. K in a hole of the core. 2. Slowing down of neutron: Four resonance detectors have been used (Au, In, Co, Mn). We can write a 1/E form of the spectrum. The linking up energy E M between thermal neutron spectrum and slowing down spectrum is about 0.23 eV and is free from the Maxwell spectrum temperature. The decrease of slowing down flux regarding thermal flux, farther from the core, has been showed. 3. Fast neutrons: We used 3 threshold detectors (Ni, Al, Mg). We supposed a E 1/2 e -βE from of the spectrum above 3 MeV. The values of β are in a range from 0.775, at the centre of the core and in a loop-hole, to 0,64 at about 30 cm of the core. 4. Continuous shape of the spectrum: The following interpolations give useful informations between the field where measurements have been made: between 340 eV and 10 keV: 1/E form between 10 keV and 330 keV: 1/(E σ S (E)) form (σ S (E) elastic scattering section on hydrogen) between 330 keV and 3 MeV: calculated form by the moments method (ref. BSR). (author) [fr

Preliminary investigations of Monte Carlo Simulations of neutron energy and LET spectra for fast neutron therapy facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kroc, T.K.

2009-01-01

No fast neutron therapy facility has been built with optimized beam quality based on a thorough understanding of the neutron spectrum and its resulting biological effectiveness. A study has been initiated to provide the information necessary for such an optimization. Monte Carlo studies will be used to simulate neutron energy spectra and LET spectra. These studies will be bench-marked with data taken at existing fast neutron therapy facilities. Results will also be compared with radiobiological studies to further support beam quality ptimization. These simulations, anchored by this data, will then be used to determine what parameters might be optimized to take full advantage of the unique LET properties of fast neutron beams. This paper will present preliminary work in generating energy and LET spectra for the Fermilab fast neutron therapy facility.

Study of beam transverse properties of a thermionic electron gun for application to a compact THz free electron laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Tongning; Qin, Bin; Tan, Ping; Chen, Qushan; Yang, Lei; Pei, Yuanji; Li, Ji

2014-01-01

A novel thermionic electron gun adopted for use in a high power THz free electron laser (FEL) is proposed in this paper. By optimization of the structural and radiofrequency (RF) parameters, the physical design of the gun is performed using dynamic calculations. Velocity bunching is used to minimize the bunch's energy spread, and the dynamic calculation results indicate that high quality beams can be provided. The transverse properties of the beams generated by the gun are also analyzed. The novel RF focusing effects of the resonance cavity are investigated precisely and are used to establish emittance compensation, which enables the injector length to be reduced. In addition, the causes of the extrema of the beam radius and the normalized transverse emittance are analyzed and interpreted, respectively, and slice simulations are performed to illustrate how the RF focusing varies along the bunch length and to determine the effects of that variation on the emittance compensation. Finally, by observation of the variations of the beam properties in the drift tube behind the electron gun, prospective assembly scenarios for the complete THz-FEL injector are discussed, and a joint-debugging process for the injector is implemented

Heat pipe nuclear reactor for space power

Science.gov (United States)

Koening, D. R.

1976-01-01

A heat-pipe-cooled nuclear reactor has been designed to provide 3.2 MWth to an out-of-core thermionic conversion system. The reactor is a fast reactor designed to operate at a nominal heat-pipe temperature of 1675 K. Each reactor fuel element consists of a hexagonal molybdenum block which is bonded along its axis to one end of a molybdenum/lithium-vapor heat pipe. The block is perforated with an array of longitudinal holes which are loaded with UO2 pellets. The heat pipe transfers heat directly to a string of six thermionic converters which are bonded along the other end of the heat pipe. An assembly of 90 such fuel elements forms a hexagonal core. The core is surrounded by a thermal radiation shield, a thin thermal neutron absorber, and a BeO reflector containing boron-loaded control drums.

Fast neutron radiography using photoluminescent imaging plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rant, J.; Kristof, E.; Balasko, M.; Stade, J.

1999-01-01

Na reaction having a 235 U fission spectrum averaged cross-section of 0,65 mb useful fast neutron images were obtained. These preliminary experiments clearly demonstrated the useful imaging properties of IP in transfer fast neutron radiography with threshold activation detectors. On the basis of this new fast neutron imaging techniques and using an appropriate set of threshold activation converter screens FNR in energy window between the 0,1 MeV to 20 MeV could be conceived.(author)

A helium-3 proportional counter technique for estimating fast and intermediate neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosako, Toshiso; Nakazawa, Masaharu; Sekiguchi, Akira; Wakabayashi, Hiroaki.

1976-11-01

3 He proportional counter was employed to determine the fast and intermediate neutron spectra of wide energy region. The mixed gas ( 3 He, Kr) type counter response and the spectrum unfolding code were prepared and applied to some neutron fields. The counter response calculation was performed by using the Monte Carlo code, paying regards to dealing of the particle range calculation of the mixed gas. An experiment was carried out by using the van de Graaff accelerator to check the response function. The spectrum unfolding code was prepared so that it may have the function of automatic evaluation of the higher energy spectrum's effect to the pulse hight distribution of the lower energy region. The neutron spectra of the various neutron fields were measured and compared with the calculations such as the discrete ordinate Sn calculations. It became clear that the technique developed here can be applied to the practical use in the neutron energy range from about 150 KeV to 5 MeV. (auth.)

Image formation and image analysis in electron microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heel, M. van.

1981-01-01

This thesis covers various aspects of image formation and image analysis in electron microscopy. The imaging of relatively strong objects in partially coherent illumination, the coherence properties of thermionic emission sources and the detection of objects in quantum noise limited images are considered. IMAGIC, a fast, flexible and friendly image analysis software package is described. Intelligent averaging of molecular images is discussed. (C.F.)

Helium production in mixed spectrum reactor-irradiated pure elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kneff, D.W.; Oliver, B.M.; Skowronski, R.P.

1986-01-01

The objectives of this work are to apply helium accumulation neutron dosimetry to the measurement of neutron fluences and energy spectra in mixed-spectrum fission reactors utilized for fusion materials testing, and to measure helium generation rates of materials in these irradiation environments. Helium generation measurements have been made for several Fe, Cu Ti, Nb, Cr, and Pt samples irradiated in the mixed-spectrum High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The results have been used to integrally test the ENDF/B-V Gas Production File, by comparing the measurements with helium generation predictions made by Argonne National Laboratory using ENDF/B-V cross sections and adjusted reactor spectra. The comparisons indicate consistency between the helium measurements and ENDF/B-V for iron, but cross section discrepancies exist for helium production by fast neutrons in Cu, Ti, Nb, and Cr (the latter for ORR). The Fe, Cu, and Ti work updates and extends previous measurements

Optimal thermionic energy conversion with established electrodes for high-temperature topping and process heating. [coal combustion product environments

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, J. F.

1980-01-01

Applied research-and-technology (ART) work reveals that optimal thermionic energy conversion (TEC) with approximately 1000 K to approximately 1100 K collectors is possible using well established tungsten electrodes. Such TEC with 1800 K emitters could approach 26.6% efficiency at 27.4 W/sq cm with approximately 1000 K collectors and 21.7% at 22.6 W/sq cm with approximately 1100 K collectors. These performances require 1.5 and 1.7 eV collector work functions (not the 1 eV ultimate) with nearly negligible interelectrode losses. Such collectors correspond to tungsten electrode systems in approximately 0.9 to approximately 6 torr cesium pressures with 1600 K to 1900 K emitters. Because higher heat-rejection temperatures for TEC allow greater collector work functions, interelectrode loss reduction becomes an increasingly important target for applications aimed at elevated temperatures. Studies of intragap modifications and new electrodes that will allow better electron emission and collection with lower cesium pressures are among the TEC-ART approaches to reduced interelectrode losses. These solutions will provide very effective TEC to serve directly in coal-combustion products for high-temperature topping and process heating. In turn this will help to use coal and to use it well.

What can we learn from unpolarized and polarized electroproduction of fast baryons?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artru, X.; Mekhfi, M.

1991-01-01

Two applications of semi-inclusive electroproduction of fast baryons are presented: (i) The steepness of the baryon spectrum at medium rapidity can give information about the general mechanisms of baryon production in soft and hard processes. (ii) With a polarized target and a detector which analyses the polarization of final Λ's, the aptitude of quarks to carry transverse polarization can be tested for the first time. (orig.)

[Laser induced fluorescence spectrum characteristics of common edible oil and fried cooking oil].

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Tao-tao; Chen, Si-ying; Zhang, Yin-chao; Chen, He; Guo, Pan; Ge, Xian-ying; Gao, Li-lei

2013-09-01

In order to detect the trench oil the authors built a trench oil rapid detection system based on laser induced fluorescence detection technology. This system used 355 nm laser as excitation light source. The authors collected the fluorescence spectrum of a variety of edible oil and fried cooking oil (a kind of trench oil) and then set up a fluorescence spectrum database by taking advantage of the trench oil detection system It was found that the fluorescence characteristics of fried cooking oil and common edible oil were obviously different. Then it could easily realize the oil recognition and trench oil rapid detection by using principal component analysis and BP neural network, and the overall recognition rate could reach as high as 97.5%. Experiments showed that laser induced fluorescence spectrum technology was fast, non-contact, and highly sensitive. Combined with BP neural network, it would become a new technique to detect the trench oil.

FlexibleSUSY-A spectrum generator generator for supersymmetric models

Science.gov (United States)

Athron, Peter; Park, Jae-hyeon; Stöckinger, Dominik; Voigt, Alexander

2015-05-01

We introduce FlexibleSUSY, a Mathematica and C++ package, which generates a fast, precise C++ spectrum generator for any SUSY model specified by the user. The generated code is designed with both speed and modularity in mind, making it easy to adapt and extend with new features. The model is specified by supplying the superpotential, gauge structure and particle content in a SARAH model file; specific boundary conditions e.g. at the GUT, weak or intermediate scales are defined in a separate FlexibleSUSY model file. From these model files, FlexibleSUSY generates C++ code for self-energies, tadpole corrections, renormalization group equations (RGEs) and electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) conditions and combines them with numerical routines for solving the RGEs and EWSB conditions simultaneously. The resulting spectrum generator is then able to solve for the spectrum of the model, including loop-corrected pole masses, consistent with user specified boundary conditions. The modular structure of the generated code allows for individual components to be replaced with an alternative if available. FlexibleSUSY has been carefully designed to grow as alternative solvers and calculators are added. Predefined models include the MSSM, NMSSM, E6SSM, USSM, R-symmetric models and models with right-handed neutrinos.

Parameter identification of JONSWAP spectrum acquired by airborne LIDAR

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yang; Pei, Hailong; Xu, Chengzhong

2017-12-01

In this study, we developed the first linear Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) spectrum (JS), which involves a transformation from the JS solution to the natural logarithmic scale. This transformation is convenient for defining the least squares function in terms of the scale and shape parameters. We identified these two wind-dependent parameters to better understand the wind effect on surface waves. Due to its efficiency and high-resolution, we employed the airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system for our measurements. Due to the lack of actual data, we simulated ocean waves in the MATLAB environment, which can be easily translated into industrial programming language. We utilized the Longuet-Higgin (LH) random-phase method to generate the time series of wave records and used the fast Fourier transform (FFT) technique to compute the power spectra density. After validating these procedures, we identified the JS parameters by minimizing the mean-square error of the target spectrum to that of the estimated spectrum obtained by FFT. We determined that the estimation error is relative to the amount of available wave record data. Finally, we found the inverse computation of wind factors (wind speed and wind fetch length) to be robust and sufficiently precise for wave forecasting.

Superconducting cosmic string loops as sources for fast radio bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Xiao-Feng; Yu, Yun-Wei

2018-01-01

The cusp burst radiation of superconducting cosmic string (SCS) loops is thought to be a possible origin of observed fast radio bursts with the model-predicted radiation spectrum and the redshift- and energy-dependent event rate, we fit the observational redshift and energy distributions of 21 Parkes fast radio bursts and constrain the model parameters. It is found that the model can basically be consistent with the observations, if the current on the SCS loops has a present value of ˜1016μ179 /10 esu s-1 and evolves with redshift as an empirical power law ˜(1 +z )-1.3 , where μ17=μ /1017 g cm-1 is the string tension. This current evolution may provide a clue to probe the evolution of the cosmic magnetic fields and the gathering of the SCS loops to galaxy clusters.

Neutron and gamma ray streaming experiments at the fast neutron source reactor 'YAYOI'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, Yoshiaki; Yanagisawa, Ichiro; Akiyama, Masatsugu; An, Shigehiro

1979-07-01

Neutron and gamma ray streaming experiments were performed in the ducts and cavities that were located in the heavy concrete shields of the fast neutron source reactor YAYOI of University of Tokyo. The configurations have the feature that the streaming through the ducts are occurred following the scattering in the cavity. The axes of the ducts are perpendicular to the source radiation from the core. The spectrum of the source was modified by putting a plug in the beam hole of the core. An aluminum plug and the plug which contains paraffin were used. The decay in the ducts, however, hardly depends on the source spectrum. The decay in the ducts is nearly exponential. (author)

Sodium fast reactor power monitoring using gamma spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coulon, R.; Normand, S.; Barbot, L.; Domenech, T.; Kondrasovs, V.; Corre, G.; Frelin, A.M. [CEA, LIST, Laboratoire Capteurs et Architectures Electroniques, CEA - Saclay DRT/LIST/DETECS/SSTM, Batiment 516 - P.C. no 72, Gif sur Yvette, F-91191 (France); Montagu, T.; Dautremer, T.; Barat, E. [CEA, LIST, Laboratoire Processus Stochastiques et Spectres (France); Ban, G. [ENSICAEN (France)

2009-06-15

This work deals with the use of high flux gamma spectrometry to monitor the fourth generation of sodium fast reactor (SFR) power. The simulation study part of this work has shown that power monitoring in a short time response and with a good accuracy is possible. An experimental test is under preparation at the French SFR Phenix experimental reactor to validate simulation studies. First, physical calculations have been done to correlate gamma activity to the released thermal power. Gamma emitter production rate in the reactor core was calculated with technical and nuclear data as the sodium velocity, the atomic densities, Phenix neutron spectrum and incident neutron cross-sections of reactions producing gamma emitters. A thermal hydraulic transfer function was used for modeling primary sodium flow in our calculations. For the power monitoring problematic, use of a short decay period gamma emitter will allow to have a very fast response system without cumulative effect. We have determined that the best tagging agent is 20F which emits 1634 keV energy photons with a decay period of 11 s. The gamma spectrum was determined by flux point and a pulse high tally MCNP5.1.40 simulation and shown the possibility to measure the signal of this radionuclide. The experiment will be set during the reactor 'end life testing'. The Delayed Neutron Detection (DND) room has been chosen as the best available location on Phenix reactor to measure this kind of radionuclide due to a short transit time from reactor core to measurement sample. This location is optimum for global power measurement because homogenized sampling in the reactor hot pool. The main spectrometer is composed of a coaxial high purity germanium diode (HPGe) coupled with a transistor reset preamplifier. The HPGe diode signal will be processed by the Adonis digital signal processing due to high flux and fast activity measurement. Post-processing softwares will be used to limit statistical problems of the

Determination of the neutron spectrum at different locations in the Argentine RA-1 Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lerner, A.M.; Madariaga, M.R.

1998-01-01

Full text: It is well known that the RA-1 reactor is used to irradiate different types of materials with neutrons. The Radio dosimetry Group (which belongs to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority) uses its fast column for the design, calibration and set up of criticality dosimeters as well as for a quick assessment of the dose to workers in case of an accident. With such purpose, Au(1), Au under Cd and In(2) foils were irradiated to estimate absolute thermal, epithermal and fast neutron fluxes at the irradiation location. The accuracy of this estimation is higher when the response to the present neutron spectrum of the different materials constituting the detectors is better known. This, in turn, requires the previous knowledge of such spectrum (a detailed energy dependence of neutron flux) at the analysed location. In this work a neutronic calculation is presented at the fast irradiation location. The whole calculation was carried out following two different methodologies, and considering a power of 40 kW. The reactor and its surroundings were represented by a simplified one-dimensional model, as a concentric cylindrical set of regions. Figures are drawn representing fast and thermal fluxes (with the cut at 0.4 eV) as a function of the distance to the core centre. The neutron flux (in n/cm 2 sec.eV) as a function of energy is also shown at the fast irradiation location. Values of flux (in n/cm 2 .sec.eV) are also provided as a function of energy in other typical locations, as well as the equivalent integrated flux values (in n/cm 2 .sec). ((1) According to the reaction Au 197 (n,γ)Au 198 , having a cross section of σ 0 =98.8b for thermal neutrons. (2) According to the reaction In 115 (n,n')In 115m , with a cross section of some 70 mb for neutrons with energies above 1.2MeV). (author) [es

Induced mutations in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) II. frequency and spectrum of chlorophyll mutations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kharkwal, M.C.

1998-01-01

A comparative study of frequency and spectrum of chlorophyll mutations induced by two physical (gamma rays, fast neutrons) and two chemical mutagens (NMU, EMS) in relation to the effects in M1 plants and induction of mutations in M2 was made in four chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties, two desi (G 130 & H 214) one Kabuli (C 104) and one green seeded (L 345). The treatments included three doses each of gamma rays (400, 500 & 600 Gy) and fast neutrons (5, 10 & 15 Gy) and two concentrations with two different durations of two chemical mutagens, NMU [0.01% (20h), & 0.02% (8h)] and EMS [0.1% (20h) & 0.2% (8h)]. The frequencies and spectrum of three different kinds of induced chlorophyll mutations in the order albina (43.5%), chlorina (27.3%) and xantha (24.2%) were recorded. Chemical mutagens were found to be efficient in inducing chlorophyll mutations in chickpea. Highest frequency of mutations was observed in green seeded var. L 345 (83% of M1 families and 19.9/1000 M2 plants). Kabuli var. C 104 was least responsive for chlorophyll mutations

Using the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) to dispose of excess weapons plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hannum, W.H.; Wade, D.C.

1997-01-01

Plutonium is a man-made radioactive element with a long half-life. The only way to dispose of plutonium permanently is by causing it to fission. The fission process is efficient only in a fast neutron spectrum, and multiple recycle with a minimal loss is required to approach complete destruction. To be consistent with nonproliferation objectives, the process should be compatible with rigorous safeguards, and should not involve handling separated plutonium; The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) meets all of these requirements. In addition, several near-term denaturing options are available that are fully compatible with complete destruction. When coupled with electrical generation, ample revenues would be available to cover all handling, operating and safeguards costs, with a substantial residual net return on the investment. (author)

A fast quadrature-based numerical method for the continuous spectrum biphasic poroviscoelastic model of articular cartilage.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuebner, Michael; Haider, Mansoor A

2010-06-18

A new and efficient method for numerical solution of the continuous spectrum biphasic poroviscoelastic (BPVE) model of articular cartilage is presented. Development of the method is based on a composite Gauss-Legendre quadrature approximation of the continuous spectrum relaxation function that leads to an exponential series representation. The separability property of the exponential terms in the series is exploited to develop a numerical scheme that can be reduced to an update rule requiring retention of the strain history at only the previous time step. The cost of the resulting temporal discretization scheme is O(N) for N time steps. Application and calibration of the method is illustrated in the context of a finite difference solution of the one-dimensional confined compression BPVE stress-relaxation problem. Accuracy of the numerical method is demonstrated by comparison to a theoretical Laplace transform solution for a range of viscoelastic relaxation times that are representative of articular cartilage. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The fast neutron facility at the research reactor Munich. Determination of the beam quality and medical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, F. M.; Koester, L.

1990-01-01

At the research reactor FRM, fast and epithermal neutron beams are generated by a thermal-to-fast neutron converter and/or near core scatterers. The dosimetry and spectroscopy of the resulting intense mixed beams of neutron and gamma radiation with a wide range of energies set spetial tasks for neutron dosimetry and spectroscopy. The twin chamber method and some others are briefly described. Neutron spectroscopy is performed by a Li-6 sandwich spectrometer covering the full neutron spectrum of a well-collimated mixed beam from about 20 keV to 8 MeV. The data registration is assisted by a microcomputer which generates sum and triton spectra on-line. Sum analysis is applied to neutron energies greater than 0.3 MeV; the intermediate neutron spectrum is evaluated by unfolding of the triton spectrum. Moreover, a brief overview of the reactor neutron therapy (RENT) at the FRM is given. After a number of animal experiments for the determination of the biological effectiveness relative to X-rays, clinical irradiations have been started in 1985. The most important indications for RENT are listed. 140 patients with bad prognoses have been treated since. The average tumour control rate of 60% is surprisingly high. Possibilities for an assisting Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) are shown. 8 figs., 23 refs

Fast neutron spectrum in the exposure room of the TRIGA Mark II reactor in Ljubljana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristof, E.S.

2003-01-01

In this paper a description of the high energy neutrons at a usual position in the dry cell of our reactor is given. Neutrons emerging from the graphite reflector enter the exposure room through the horizontal shaft. At the irradiation position samples of detection materials were irradiated. After irradiation γ-ray spectra were measured and from the saturation activities the spectrum was calculated. (author)

Spectrum Hole Identification in IEEE 802.22 WRAN using Unsupervised Learning

OpenAIRE

V. Balaji; S. Anand; C.R. Hota; G. Raghurama

2016-01-01

In this paper we present a Cooperative Spectrum Sensing (CSS) algorithm for Cognitive Radios (CR) based on IEEE 802.22Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) standard. The core objective is to improve cooperative sensing efficiency which specifies how fast a decision can be reached in each round of cooperation (iteration) to sense an appropriate number of channels/bands (i.e. 86 channels of 7MHz bandwidth as per IEEE 802.22) within a time constraint (channel sensing time). To meet this objectiv...

Neighborhood fast food availability and fast food consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Oexle, Nathalie; Barnes, Timothy L; Blake, Christine E; Bell, Bethany A; Liese, Angela D

2015-09-01

Recent nutritional and public health research has focused on how the availability of various types of food in a person's immediate area or neighborhood influences his or her food choices and eating habits. It has been theorized that people living in areas with a wealth of unhealthy fast-food options may show higher levels of fast-food consumption, a factor that often coincides with being overweight or obese. However, measuring food availability in a particular area is difficult to achieve consistently: there may be differences in the strict physical locations of food options as compared to how individuals perceive their personal food availability, and various studies may use either one or both of these measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between weekly fast-food consumption and both a person's perceived availability of fast-food and an objective measure of fast-food presence - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - within that person's neighborhood. A randomly selected population-based sample of eight counties in South Carolina was used to conduct a cross-sectional telephone survey assessing self-report fast-food consumption and perceived availability of fast food. GIS was used to determine the actual number of fast-food outlets within each participant's neighborhood. Using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we found that neither perceived availability nor GIS-based presence of fast-food was significantly associated with weekly fast-food consumption. Our findings indicate that availability might not be the dominant factor influencing fast-food consumption. We recommend using subjective availability measures and considering individual characteristics that could influence both perceived availability of fast food and its impact on fast-food consumption. If replicated, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing fast-food consumption by limiting neighborhood fast-food availability might not be completely effective

Serum Lipid Profile: Fasting or Non-fasting?

OpenAIRE

Nigam, P. K.

2010-01-01

Serum lipid profile has now become almost a routine test. It is usually done in fasting state due to certain limitations in non-fasting serum sample. In the recent past efforts have been made to simplify blood sampling by replacing fasting lipid profile with non-fasting lipid profile. However, fasting specimen is preferred if cardiovascular risk assessment is based on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol or non-HDL cholesterol. A lot has yet to be done in this area. Till then we have to believe...

MYRRHA – A multi-purpose fast spectrum research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aït Abderrahim, Hamid; Baeten, Peter; De Bruyn, Didier; Fernandez, Rafael

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Historical evolution of the MYRRHA project. ► Detail design of the MYRRHA Accelerator Driven System. ► Irradiation performance simulation of the MYRRHA ADS. - Abstract: MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) is the flexible experimental Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) currently under development at SCK⋅CEN and will replace the Material Testing Reactor (MTR) BR2. The MYRRHA facility is currently being developed with the aid of the FP7-project “Central Design Team” and will be as a flexible irradiation facility, able to work in both subcritical and critical modes. In this way, MYRRHA will allow fuel developments for innovative reactor systems, material developments for GEN IV systems, material developments for fusion reactors, radioisotope production for medical and industrial applications, and Si-doping. MYRRHA will also demonstrate the full concept of Accelerator Driven Systems by coupling the requisite three components (accelerator, spallation target and subcritical reactor) at reasonable power level to allow operation feedback, scalable to an industrial demonstrator and allow for the study of efficient transmutation of high-level nuclear waste. Since MYRRHA is based on the heavy liquid metal technology, Lead–Bismuth Eutectic, it will be able to significantly contribute to the development of Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) technology. Further, in critical mode, MYRRHA will play the role of European Technology Pilot Plant in the path forward for LFR. In this paper we present the historical perspectives, international and high profile membership within the consortium of the MYRRHA project and the rationale for the design choices are presented. Also, the latest configuration of the reactor system is described together with the different irradiation capabilities. More specifically, the possibilities and performances for fuel irradiations are presented in detail.

Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum): Validation of a questionnaire investigating subthreshold autism spectrum.

Science.gov (United States)

Dell'Osso, L; Gesi, C; Massimetti, E; Cremone, I M; Barbuti, M; Maccariello, G; Moroni, I; Barlati, S; Castellini, G; Luciano, M; Bossini, L; Rocchetti, M; Signorelli, M; Aguglia, E; Fagiolini, A; Politi, P; Ricca, V; Vita, A; Carmassi, C; Maj, M

2017-02-01

Increasing literature has shown the usefulness of a dimensional approach to autism. The present study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum), a new questionnaire specifically tailored to assess subthreshold forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adulthood. 102 adults endorsing at least one DSM-5 symptom criterion for ASD (ASDc), 143 adults diagnosed with a feeding and eating disorder (FED), and 160 subjects with no mental disorders (CTL), were recruited from 7 Italian University Departments of Psychiatry and administered the following: SCID-5, Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale 14-item version (RAADS-14), and AdAS Spectrum. The AdAS Spectrum demonstrated excellent internal consistency for the total score (Kuder-Richardson's coefficient=.964) as well as for five out of seven domains (all coefficients>.80) and sound test-retest reliability (ICC=.976). The total and domain AdAS Spectrum scores showed a moderate to strong (>.50) positive correlation with one another and with the AQ and RAADS-14 total scores. ASDc subjects reported significantly higher AdAS Spectrum total scores than both FED (pcriteria (FED 0 ) and those with one ASD symptom criterion (FED 1 ) , a gradient of severity in AdAS Spectrum scores from CTL subjects to ASD patients, across FED 0 , ASD 1 , FED 1 was shown. The AdAS Spectrum showed excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability and strong convergent validity with alternative dimensional measures of ASD. The questionnaire performed differently among the three diagnostic groups and enlightened some significant effects of gender in the expression of autistic traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Investigation of an Irradiated Fuel Pin by Measurement of the Production of Fast Neutrons in a Thermal Column and by Pile Oscillation Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustavsson, Veine

1968-05-01

A fuel pin irradiated to about 3400 MWd/tU from the Halden reactor has been investigated by a measurement of the production of fast neutrons in a thermal column and by pile oscillator technique in the central channel of the reactor R1. Calibration was made by using samples with different U 235 enrichments. The thermal column experiment gives the quantity ave(νΣ f ) (average in the thermal column spectrum) for the Halden sample. Σ f is the macroscopic fission cross section and ν is the number of fast neutrons produced per fission. The result of the oscillator measurements is a value of ave(Σ a ) - w ave(Σ f ) (average in the central channel spectrum) for the irradiated sample, w is the importance of a fast neutron relative to a thermal one and ave(Σ a ) is the macroscopic absorption cross section. The results from both the experiments have been compared with values calculated by the REBUS code and the agreement was good

Thick-foils activation technique for neutron spectrum unfolding with the MINUIT routine-Comparison with GEANT4 simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Vagena, E.; Theodorou, K.; Stoulos, S.

2018-04-01

Neutron activation technique has been applied using a proposed set of twelve thick metal foils (Au, As, Cd, In, Ir, Er, Mn, Ni, Se, Sm, W, Zn) for off-site measurements to obtain the neutron spectrum over a wide energy range (from thermal up to a few MeV) in intense neutron-gamma mixed fields such as around medical Linacs. The unfolding procedure takes into account the activation rates measured using thirteen (n , γ) and two (n , p) reactions without imposing a guess solution-spectrum. The MINUIT minimization routine unfolds a neutron spectrum that is dominated by fast neutrons (70%) peaking at 0.3 MeV, while the thermal peak corresponds to the 15% of the total neutron fluence equal to the epithermal-resonances area. The comparison of the unfolded neutron spectrum against the simulated one with the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo code shows a reasonable agreement within the measurement uncertainties. Therefore, the proposed set of activation thick-foils could be a useful tool in order to determine low flux neutrons spectrum in intense mixed field.

Energy spectra unfolding of fast neutron sources using the group method of data handling and decision tree algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hosseini, Seyed Abolfazl, E-mail: sahosseini@sharif.edu [Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 8639-11365 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Afrakoti, Iman Esmaili Paeen [Faculty of Engineering & Technology, University of Mazandaran, Pasdaran Street, P.O. Box: 416, Babolsar 47415 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-04-11

Accurate unfolding of the energy spectrum of a neutron source gives important information about unknown neutron sources. The obtained information is useful in many areas like nuclear safeguards, nuclear nonproliferation, and homeland security. In the present study, the energy spectrum of a poly-energetic fast neutron source is reconstructed using the developed computational codes based on the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) and Decision Tree (DT) algorithms. The neutron pulse height distribution (neutron response function) in the considered NE-213 liquid organic scintillator has been simulated using the developed MCNPX-ESUT computational code (MCNPX-Energy engineering of Sharif University of Technology). The developed computational codes based on the GMDH and DT algorithms use some data for training, testing and validation steps. In order to prepare the required data, 4000 randomly generated energy spectra distributed over 52 bins are used. The randomly generated energy spectra and the simulated neutron pulse height distributions by MCNPX-ESUT for each energy spectrum are used as the output and input data. Since there is no need to solve the inverse problem with an ill-conditioned response matrix, the unfolded energy spectrum has the highest accuracy. The {sup 241}Am-{sup 9}Be and {sup 252}Cf neutron sources are used in the validation step of the calculation. The unfolded energy spectra for the used fast neutron sources have an excellent agreement with the reference ones. Also, the accuracy of the unfolded energy spectra obtained using the GMDH is slightly better than those obtained from the DT. The results obtained in the present study have good accuracy in comparison with the previously published paper based on the logsig and tansig transfer functions. - Highlights: • The neutron pulse height distribution was simulated using MCNPX-ESUT. • The energy spectrum of the neutron source was unfolded using GMDH. • The energy spectrum of the neutron source was

Comparison of Experiment and Simulation of the triple GEM-Based Fast Neutron Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiao-Dong; Luo Wen; Zhang Jun-Wei; Yang He-Run; Duan Li-Min; Lu Chen-Gui; Hu Rong-Jiang; Hu Bi-Tao; Zhang Chun-Hui; Yang Lei; Zhou Jian-Rong; An Lv-Xing

2015-01-01

A detector for fast neutrons based on a 10 × 10 cm"2 triple gas electron multiplier (GEM) device is developed and tested. A neutron converter, which is a high density polyethylene (HDPE) layer, is combined with the triple GEM detector cathode and placed inside the detector, in the path of the incident neutrons. The detector is tested by obtaining the energy deposition spectrum with an Am Be neutron source in the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) at Lanzhou. In the present work we report the results of the tests and compare them with those of simulations. The transport of fast neutrons and their interactions with the different materials in the detector are simulated with the GEANT4 code, to understand the experimental results. The detector displays a clear response to the incident fast neutrons. However, an unexpected disagreement in the energy dependence of the response between the simulated and measured spectra is observed. The neutron sources used in our simulation include deuterium-tritium (DT, 14 MeV), deuterium-deuterium (DD, 2.45 MeV), and Am Be sources. The simulation results also show that among the secondary particles generated by the incident neutron, the main contributions to the total energy deposition are from recoil protons induced in hydrogen-rich HDPE or Kapton (GEM material), and activation photons induced by neutron interaction with Ar atoms. Their contributions account for 90% of the total energy deposition. In addition, the dependence of neutron deposited energy spectrum on the composition of the gas mixture is presented. (paper)

Genes involved in yeast survival after irradiation with fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozin, D.; Milosevic, M.J.

2001-01-01

Life on the Earth has evolved against a continuous background of ionizing radiation. It would be expected, therefore, that all possible mutations have been produced at some time or another; man-made radiation from medical or industrial sources will not result in any new types of mutation but will simply increase the whole spectrum of mutations that occur spontaneously. Any such lesion can be mutagenic and, in principle, lethal. To counteract the consequences of DNA damage, evolution has equipped all living cells with an intricate network of defense and repair systems. Together, these systems act as a kind of nuclear 'immune system' that is able to recognize and eliminate many types of DNA lesions. In the case of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in these processes over 30 RAD genes participate. We tested the survival of haploid and diploid rad1 yeast mutant strains at a dose of 15 Gy of γ or fast neutron radiation. We demonstrated that the lethality of rad1 mutants both haploid and diploid are significantly higher after fast neutron irradiation. The results indicate to the role and position of these genes in the DNA repair of damages specifically induced by fast neutrons. (authors)

Multicarrier Spread Spectrum Modulation Schemes and Efficient FFT Algorithms for Cognitive Radio Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohandass Sundararajan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Spread spectrum (SS and multicarrier modulation (MCM techniques are recognized as potential candidates for the design of underlay and interweave cognitive radio (CR systems, respectively. Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA is a spread spectrum technique generally used in underlay CR systems. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM is the basic MCM technique, primarily used in interweave CR systems. There are other MCM schemes derived from OFDM technique, like Non-Contiguous OFDM, Spread OFDM, and OFDM-OQAM, which are more suitable for CR systems. Multicarrier Spread Spectrum Modulation (MCSSM schemes like MC-CDMA, MC-DS-CDMA and SS-MC-CDMA, combine DS-CDMA and OFDM techniques in order to improve the CR system performance and adaptability. This article gives a detailed survey of the various spread spectrum and multicarrier modulation schemes proposed in the literature. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT plays a vital role in all the multicarrier modulation techniques. The FFT part of the modem can be used for spectrum sensing. The performance of the FFT operator plays a crucial role in the overall performance of the system. Since the cognitive radio is an adaptive system, the FFT operator must also be adaptive for various input/output values, in order to save energy and time taken for execution. This article also includes the various efficient FFT algorithms proposed in the literature, which are suitable for CR systems.

Investigation of the reflection of fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devillers, Christian; Hasselin, Gilbert

1964-10-01

The authors report the study of the reflection of fast neutrons on a plane plate having a finite and varying thickness and an infinite width. Calculations are performed by using a Monte-Carlo method which allows the number, the energy, the direction, the emergence point of neutrons reflected on a plate, to be computed with respect to the energy and direction of incident neutrons. The author present how paths, elastic and inelastic shocks, direction after shock are calculated. Different information are calculated: the numbers of elastic shocks, inelastic shocks and transmitted neutrons, the number, energy and dose albedo, the spectrum and angular distribution, the distribution of neutron in terms of energy and direction

Technology of fast-wave current drive antennas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, D.J.; Baity, F.W.; Goulding, R.H.; Haste, G.R.; Ryan, P.M.; Taylor, D.J.; Swain, D.W.; Mayberry, M.J.; Yugo, J.J.

1989-01-01

The design of fast-wave current drive (FWCD) antennas combines the usual antenna considerations (e.g., the plasma/antenna interface, disruptions, high currents and voltages, and thermal loads) with new requirements for spectral shaping and phase control. The internal configuration of the antenna array has a profound effect on the spectrum and the ability to control phasing. This paper elaborates on these considerations, as epitomized by a proof-of-principle (POP) experiment designed for the DIII-D tokamak. The extension of FWCD for machines such as the International Thermonuclear Engineering Reactor (ITER) will require combining ideas implemented in the POP experiment with reactor-relevant antenna concepts, such as the folded waveguide. 6 refs., 8 figs

[Spectrum-effect Relationship Between Total Antioxidant Activity and HPLC Fingerprint of Arctium lappa Root].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiao-juan; Jiang, Lin

2014-12-01

To explore the spectrum-effect relationship between the HPLC fingerprint of Arctium lappa root methanol extract and the total antioxidant activity. The experiment was carried out with Gemini C18 110A (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm) column using methanol-0.04% phosphoric acid as gradient mobile phase at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, detection wavelength of 320 nm. The total antioxidant activity was determined by measuring the absorbance of each sample after being reacted with ammonium molybdate reagent. The spectrum-effect relationship was investigated using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The spectrum-effect relationship between the HPLC fingerprint of Arctium lappa root methanol extract and the total antioxidant activity were established, the similarity of fingerprint of all samples was above 0.9. Peaks 1, 6, 9, 12 and 14 were principle components of Arctium lappa root for the total antioxidant activity. This method contributes to the fast comprehensive evaluation of quality of Arctium lappa root.

Fast fluence measurement for JOYO irradiation field using niobium dosimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Chikara

2004-03-01

Neutron fluence and spectrum are key parameters in various irradiation tests and material surveillance tests so they need to be evaluated accurately. The reactor dosimetry test has been conducted by the multiple foil activation method, and a niobium dosimeter has been developed for measurement of fast neutron fluence in the experimental fast reactor JOYO. The inelastic scattering reaction of 93 Nb has a low threshold energy, about 30 keV, and the energy distribution of reaction cross section is similar to the displacement cross section for iron. Therefore, a niobium dosimeter is suitable for evaluation of the fast neutron fluence and the displacement per atom for iron. Moreover, a niobium dosimeter is suited to measure neutron fluence in long-term irradiation test because 93 Nb, which is produced by the reaction, has a long half-life (16.4 years). This study established a high precision measurement technique using the niobium reaction rate. The effect of self-absorption was decreased by the solution and evaporation to dryness of niobium dosimeter. The dosimeter weight was precisely measured using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. This technique was applied to JOYO dosimetry. The fast neutron fluences (E > 0.1 MeV) found by measuring the reaction rate in the niobium dosimeter were compared with the values evaluated using the multiple foil activation method. The ratio of measured fast neutron fluences by means of niobium dosimeter and multiple foil activation method range from 0.97 to 1.03 and agree within the experimental uncertainty. The measurement errors of fast neutron fluence by niobium dosimeter range from 4.5% (fuel region) to 10.1% (in-vessel storage rack). As a result of this study, the high precision measurement of fast neutron fluence by niobium dosimeters was confirmed. The accuracy of fast reactor dosimetry will be improved by application of niobium dosimeters to the irradiation tests in the JOYO MK-III core. (author)

Design of a gap tunable flux qubit with FastHenry

Science.gov (United States)

Akhtar, Naheed; Zheng, Yarui; Nazir, Mudassar; Wu, Yulin; Deng, Hui; Zheng, Dongning; Zhu, Xiaobo

2016-12-01

In the preparations of superconducting qubits, circuit design is a vital process because the parameters and layout of the circuit not only determine the way we address the qubits, but also strongly affect the qubit coherence properties. One of the most important circuit parameters, which needs to be carefully designed, is the mutual inductance among different parts of a superconducting circuit. In this paper we demonstrate how to design a gap-tunable flux qubit by layout design and inductance extraction using a fast field solver FastHenry. The energy spectrum of the gap-tunable flux qubit shows that the measured parameters are close to the design values. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11374344, 11404386, and 91321208), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014CB921401), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB07010300).

Conceptual design, neutronic and radioprotection study of a fast neutron irradiation station at SINQ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zanini, L.; Baluc, N.; Simone, A. De; Eichler, R.; Joray, S.; Manfrin, E.; Pouchon, M.; Rabaioli, S.; Schumann, D.; Welte, J.; Zhernosekov, K.

2011-12-01

This comprehensive, illustrated report by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Switzerland documents the proposals concerning the conceptual design, neutronic and radioprotection study of a fast neutron irradiation station at the PSI's Swiss Spallation Neutron Source SINQ facility. The need for fast neutron irradiation is discussed and the possibility of using SINQ as a fast neutron irradiation facility is considered. The production of isotopes, tracers and medical isotopes is discussed, as are fission and fusion reactor technologies. The characteristics of the neutron spectrum in SINQ are discussed. The neutronic and radioprotection calculations for an irradiation station at SINQ are looked at in detail and extensive examples of work done and results obtained are presented and discussed. Radioprotection issues are also looked at. Further contributions in the report cover the hot/cold irradiation station in the SINQ target. An appendix provides detailed drawings of the facility's pneumatic delivery system

Modular Lead-Bismuth Fast Reactors in Nuclear Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Petrochenko

2012-09-01

Full Text Available On the basis of the unique experience of operating reactors with heavy liquid metal coolant–eutectic lead-bismuth alloy in nuclear submarines, the concept of modular small fast reactors SVBR-100 for civilian nuclear power has been developed and validated. The features of this innovative technology are as follows: a monoblock (integral design of the reactor with fast neutron spectrum, which can operate using different types of fuel in various fuel cycles including MOX fuel in a self-providing mode. The reactor is distinct in that it has a high level of self-protection and passive safety, it is factory manufactured and the assembled reactor can be transported by railway. Multipurpose application of the reactor is presumed, primarily, it can be used for regional power to produce electricity, heat and for water desalination. The Project is being realized within the framework of state-private partnership with joint venture OJSC “AKME-Engineering” established on a parity basis by the State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” and the Limited Liability Company “EuroSibEnergo”.

Fast fourier algorithms in spectral computation and analysis of vibrating machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farooq, U.; Hafeez, T.; Khan, M.Z.; Amir, M.

2001-01-01

In this work we have discussed Fourier and its history series, relationships among various Fourier mappings, Fourier coefficients, transforms, inverse transforms, integrals, analyses, discrete and fast algorithms for data processing and analysis of vibrating systems. The evaluation of magnitude of the source signal at transmission time, related coefficient matrix, intensity, and magnitude at the receiving end (stations). Matrix computation of Fourier transform has been explained, and applications are presented. The fast Fourier transforms, new computational scheme. have been tested with an example. The work also includes digital programs for obtaining the frequency contents of time function. It has been explained that how the fast Fourier algorithms (FFT) has decreased computational work by several order of magnitudes and split the spectrum of a signal into two (even and odd modes) at every successive step. That fast quantitative processing for discrete Fourier transforms' computations as well as signal splitting and combination provides an efficient. and reliable tool for spectral analyses. Fourier series decompose the given variable into a sum of oscillatory functions each having a specific frequency. These frequencies, with their corresponding amplitude and phase angles, constitute the frequency contents of the original time functions. These fast processing achievements, signals decomposition and combination may be carried out by the principle of superposition and convolution for, even, signals of different frequencies. Considerable information about a machine or a structure can be derived from variable speed and frequency tests. (author)

Angular spectrum approach for fast simulation of pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

The paper presents an Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA) for simulating pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields. The source of the ASA is generated by Field II, which can simulate array transducers of any arbitrary geometry and focusing. The non-linear ultrasound simulation program - Abersim, is used...... as the reference. A linear array transducer with 64 active elements is simulated by both Field II and Abersim. The excitation is a 2-cycle sine wave with a frequency of 5 MHz. The second harmonic field in the time domain is simulated using ASA. Pulse inversion is used in the Abersim simulation to remove...... the fundamental and keep the second harmonic field, since Abersim simulates non-linear fields with all harmonic components. ASA and Abersim are compared for the pulsed fundamental and second harmonic fields in the time domain at depths of 30 mm, 40 mm (focal depth) and 60 mm. Full widths at -6 dB (FWHM) are f0...

Study on effects of development of reactor constant in fast reactor analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiba, Gou

2002-12-01

Evaluation was carried out about an effect of development of the new generation reactor constant system that substitutes for the JFS library in fast reactor analysis. Analyzed cores were ZPPR in JUPITER critical experiment and several power reactor cores that were designed in the feasibility study. In the JUPITER analysis, large effects, over 10%, were observed in sodium void reactivity and sample Doppler reactivity. The former resulted from several factors, while the latter was due to an accurate of a resonance interaction effect between Doppler sample and core fuel. In the previous study, the effect had been evaluated in power reactor cores. The effect included an effect of corrosion of weighting spectrum because JFS-3-J3.2, which had been made with the incorrect weighting spectrum, was used in the evaluation. In the present study, JFS-3-J3.2R, which had been made with the correct weighting spectrum, was used. It was confirmed that the effect of development of reactor constant in power reactor was not as large as that in critical assembly. (author)

Fuel Development For Gas-Cooled Fast Reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

M. K. Meyer

2006-06-01

The Generation IV Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) concept is proposed to combine the advantages of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (such as efficient direct conversion with a gas turbine and the potential for application of high-temperature process heat), with the sustainability advantages that are possible with a fast-spectrum reactor. The latter include the ability to fission all transuranics and the potential for breeding. The GFR is part of a consistent set of gas-cooled reactors that includes a medium-term Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)-like concept, or concepts based on the Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR), and specialized concepts such as the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR), as well as actinide burning concepts [ ]. To achieve the necessary high power density and the ability to retain fission gas at high temperature, the primary fuel concept proposed for testing in the United States is a dispersion coated fuel particles in a ceramic matrix. Alternative fuel concepts considered in the U.S. and internationally include coated particle beds, ceramic clad fuel pins, and novel ceramic ‘honeycomb’ structures. Both mixed carbide and mixed nitride-based solid solutions are considered as fuel phases.

Flexible Conversion Ratio Fast Reactor Systems Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neil Todreas; Pavel Hejzlar

2008-06-30

Conceptual designs of lead-cooled and liquid salt-cooled fast flexible conversion ratio reactors were developed. Both concepts have cores reated at 2400 MWt placed in a large-pool-type vessel with dual-free level, which also contains four intermediate heat exchanges coupling a primary coolant to a compact and efficient supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle power conversion system. Decay heat is removed passively using an enhanced Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System and a Passive Secondary Auxiliary Cooling System. The most important findings were that (1) it is feasible to design the lead-cooled and salt-cooled reactor with the flexible conversion ratio (CR) in the range of CR=0 and CR=1 n a manner that achieves inherent reactor shutdown in unprotected accidents, (2) the salt-cooled reactor requires Lithium thermal Expansion Modules to overcme the inherent salt coolant's large positive coolant temperature reactivity coefficient, (3) the preferable salt for fast spectrum high power density cores is NaCl-Kcl-MgCl2 as opposed to fluoride salts due to its better themal-hydraulic and neutronic characteristics, and (4) both reactor, but attain power density 3 times smaller than that of the sodium-cooled reactor.

Flexible Conversion Ratio Fast Reactor Systems Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neil Todreas; Pavel Hejzlar

2008-01-01

Conceptual designs of lead-cooled and liquid salt-cooled fast flexible conversion ratio reactors were developed. Both concepts have cores treated at 2400 MWt placed in a large-pool-type vessel with dual-free level, which also contains four intermediate heat exchanges coupling a primary coolant to a compact and efficient supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle power conversion system. Decay heat is removed passively using an enhanced Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System and a Passive Secondary Auxiliary Cooling System. The most important findings were that (1) it is feasible to design the lead-cooled and salt-cooled reactor with the flexible conversion ratio (CR) in the range of CR=0 and CR=1 n a manner that achieves inherent reactor shutdown in unprotected accidents, (2) the salt-cooled reactor requires Lithium thermal Expansion Modules to overcome the inherent salt coolant's large positive coolant temperature reactivity coefficient, (3) the preferable salt for fast spectrum high power density cores is NaCl-Kcl-MgCl2 as opposed to fluoride salts due to its better thermal-hydraulic and neutronic characteristics, and (4) both reactor, but attain power density 3 times smaller than that of the sodium-cooled reactor

The Fast-Casual Conundrum: Fast-Casual Restaurant Entrées Are Higher in Calories than Fast Food.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoffman, Danielle E; Davidson, Charis R; Hales, Sarah B; Crimarco, Anthony E; Dahl, Alicia A; Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle M

2016-10-01

Frequently eating fast food has been associated with consuming a diet high in calories, and there is a public perception that fast-casual restaurants (eg, Chipotle) are healthier than traditional fast food (eg, McDonald's). However, research has not examined whether fast-food entrées and fast-casual entrées differ in calorie content. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the caloric content of entrées at fast-food restaurants differed from that found at fast-casual restaurants. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. Calorie information from 2014 for lunch and dinner entrées for fast-food and fast-casual restaurants was downloaded from the MenuStat database. Mean calories per entrée between fast-food restaurants and fast-casual restaurants and the proportion of restaurant entrées that fell into different calorie ranges were assessed. A t test was conducted to test the hypothesis that there was no difference between the average calories per entrée at fast-food and fast-casual restaurants. To examine the difference in distribution of entrées in different calorie ranges between fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, χ(2) tests were used. There were 34 fast-food and 28 fast-casual restaurants included in the analysis (n=3,193 entrées). Fast-casual entrées had significantly more calories per entrée (760±301 kcal) than fast-food entrées (561±268; Prestaurants to determine whether the energy content or nutrient density of full meals (ie, entrées with sides and drinks) differs between fast-casual restaurants and fast-food restaurants. Calorie-conscious consumers should consider the calorie content of entrée items before purchase, regardless of restaurant type. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measurements of neutron spectrum from uranium converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ninkovic, M.; Sotic, O.; Marinkovic, S.

1978-01-01

The procedure for determination of energetic distribution of neutrons by the multisphere technique is given. The theoretical basis and features of the method are explained. The spectral distribution of neutrons emerging from the neutron converter constructed at the bare reactor assembly RB, has been determined applying the existing computer programme and literature data for the energetic dependence functions of spheres of various diameters. The obtained spectral distribution has a specific maximum in the domain of fast neutrons, justifying thus the reacton for the construction of the converter. The neutron spectrum data obtained and given in this report are very important for the use of the converter in neutron dosimetry and radiation protection, as well as in the radiobiology, shielding, reactor physics etc. (author)

Neutron spectrum unfolding using computer code SAIPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karim, S.

1999-01-01

The main objective of this project was to study the neutron energy spectrum at rabbit station-1 in Pakistan Research Reactor (PARR-I). To do so, multiple foils activation method was used to get the saturated activities. The computer code SAIPS was used to unfold the neutron spectra from the measured reaction rates. Of the three built in codes in SAIPS, only SANDI and WINDOWS were used. Contribution of thermal part of the spectra was observed to be higher than the fast one. It was found that the WINDOWS gave smooth spectra while SANDII spectra have violet oscillations in the resonance region. The uncertainties in the WINDOWS results are higher than those of SANDII. The results show reasonable agreement with the published results. (author)

Measurements of Relative Biological Effectiveness and Oxygen Enhancement Ratio of Fast Neutrons of Different Energies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barendsen, G. W.; Broerse, J. J. [Radiobiological Institute of the Health Research Council TNO, Rijswijk (ZH) (Netherlands)

1968-03-15

Impairment of the reproductive capacity of cultured cells of human kidney origin (T-l{sub g} cells) has been measured by the Puck cloning technique. From the dose-survival curves obtained in these experiments by irradiation of cells in equilibrium with air and nitrogen, respectively, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and the oxygen enhancement ratios (OER) were determined for different beams of fast neutrons. Monoenergetic neutrons of 3 and 15 MeV energy, fission spectrum fast neutrons (mean energy about 1.5 MeV), neutrons produced by bombarding Be with cyclotron-accelerated 16 MeV deuterons (mean energy about 6 MeV) and neutrons produced by bombarding Be with cyclotron- accelerated 20 MeV {sup 3}He ions (mean energy about 10 MeV) have been compared with 250 kVp X-rays as a standard reference. The RBE for 50% cell survival varies from 4.7 for fission-spectrum fast neutrons to 2.7 for 15 MeV monoenergetic neutrons. The OER is not strongly dependent on the neutron energy for the various beams investigated. For the neutrons with the highest and lowest energies used OER values of 1.6 {+-} 0.2 and 1.5 {+-} 0.1 were measured. An interpretation of these data on the basis of the shapes of the LET spectra is proposed and an approximate verification of this hypothesis is provided from measurements in which secondary particle equilibrium was either provided for or deliberately eliminated. (author)

Experimental study of the large-scale axially heterogeneous liquid-metal fast breeder reactor at the fast critical assembly: Power distribution measurements and their analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iijima, S.; Obu, M.; Hayase, T.; Ohno, A.; Nemoto, T.; Okajima, S.

1988-01-01

Power distributions of the large-scale axially heterogeneous liquid-metal fast breeder reactor were studied by using the experiment results of fast critical assemblies XI, XII, and XIII and the results of their analyses. The power distributions were examined by the gamma-scanning method and fission rate measurements using /sup 239/Pu and /sup 238/U fission counters and the foil irradiation method. In addition to the measurements in the reference core, the power distributions were measured in the core with a control rod inserted and in a modified core where the shape of the internal blanket was determined by the radial boundary. The calculation was made by using JENDL-2 and the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute's standard calculation system for fast reactor neutronics. The power flattening trend, caused by the decrease of the fast neutron flux, was observed in the axial and radial power distributions. The effect of the radial boundary shape of the internal blanket on the power distribution was determined in the core. The thickness of the internal blanket was reduced at its radial boundary. The influence of the internal blanket was observed in the power distributions in the core with a control rod inserted. The calculation predicted the neutron spectrum harder in the internal blanket. In the radial distributions of /sup 239/Pu fission rates, the space dependency of the calculated-to-experiment values was found at the active core close to the internal blanket

Analysis of tokamak plasma confinement modes using the fast Fourier transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirmoeini, S.R.; Salar Elahi, A.; Ghoranneviss, M.

2016-01-01

The Fourier analysis is a satisfactory technique for detecting plasma confinement modes in tokamaks. The confinement mode of tokamak plasma was analysed using the fast Fourier transformation (FFT). For this purpose, we used the data of Mirnov coils that is one of the identifying tools in the IR-T1 tokamak, with and without external field (electric biasing), and then compared it with each other. After the Fourier analysis of Mirnov coil data, the diagram of power spectrum density was depicted in different angles of Mirnov coils in the 'presence of external field' as well as in the 'absence of external field'. The power spectrum density (PSD) interprets the manner of power distribution of a signal with frequency. In this article, the number of plasma modes and the safety factor q were obtained by using the mode number of q = m/n (m is the mode number). The maximum MHD activity was obtained in 30-35 kHz frequency, using the density of the energy spectrum. In addition, the number of different modes across 0-35 ms time was compared with each other in the presence and absence of the external field. (author)

Numerical studies of the MHD spectrum of an elliptic plasma column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chance, M.S.; Greene, J.M.; Grimm, R.C.; Johnson, J.L.

1976-05-01

A numerical procedure is described for determining the MHD spectrum associated with small perturbations about an analytic equilibrium. This configuration has magnetic flux surfaces which are nested similar elliptical cylinders generated by a uniform axial current. Since the system is periodic, it models the essential features of a toroid. The code is used to study the properties of modes in the continuous shear Alfven and slow acoustic spectra as well as the discrete modes associated with the fast magnetosonic waves and kinks. Modes where the interchange criterion is violated, or nearly violated, are investigated

A technique of measuring neutron spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarkar, P.K.; Kirthi, K.N.; Ganguly, A.K.

1975-01-01

Plastic scintillators have been used to measure fast neutron spectrum from various sources. Gamma background discrimination has been done by selecting thin scintillators and thereby achieving near 100% transmission of Compton-edge electrons. The measured distribution has been unfolded by using an iterative least square technique. This gives minimum variance and maximum likelihood estimate with error minimised. Smoothening of the observed distribution has been done by Fourier and time series analyses. The method developed is applicable in principle for the determination of spectra of high energy neutrons ranging from 1 MeV to 70 MeV and beyond. However, practical application of the method is limited by the non-availability of cross-section data for various neutron induced reactions with carbon and hydrogen present in the polymerised polystyrene scintillator. This procedure has been adopted in the present work for spectral determination up to 14 MeV neutrons using the published value of reaction and scattering cross-sections. The spectra of Po-Be, Pu-Be, Am-Be and Ra-Be arrived at agree well with the published spectra obtained by other methods. Spectrum from spontaneous fission of Cf-252 have also been measured and fitted to the expression N(E)=Esup(1/2)exp(-E/T). The fitted parameter T and spectral details agree well with those in published literature

A design study of high electric power for fast reactor cooled by supercritical light water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koshizuka, Seiichi

2000-03-01

In order to evaluate the possibility to achieve high electric power by a fast reactor with supercritical light water, the design study was carried out on a large fast reactor core with high coolant outlet temperature (SCFR-H). Since the reactor coolant circuit uses once-through direct cycle where all feedwater flows through the core to the turbine at supercritical pressure, it is possible to design much simpler and more compact reactor systems and to achieve higher thermal efficiency than those of current light water reactors. The once-through direct cycle system is employed in current fossil-fired power plants. In the present study, three types of core were designed. The first is SCFR-H with blankets cooled by ascending flow, the second is SCFR-H with blankets cooled by descending flow and the third is SCFR-H with high thermal power. Every core was designed to achieve the thermal efficiency over 43%, positive coolant density reactivity coefficient and electric power over 1600 MW. Core characteristics of SCFR-Hs were compared with those of SCLWR-H (electric power: 1212 MW), which is a thermal neutron spectrum reactor cooled and moderated by supercritical light water, with the same diameter of the reactor pressure vessel. It was shown that SCFR-H could increase the electric power about 1.7 times maximally. From the standpoint of the increase of a reactor thermal power, a fast reactor has advantages as compared with a thermal neutron reactor, because it can increase the power density by adopting tight fuel lattices and eliminating the moderator region. Thus, it was concluded that a reactor cooled by supercritical light water could further improve the cost competitiveness by using a fast neutron spectrum and achieving a higher thermal power. (author)

Beam Characterizations at Femtosecond Electron Beam Facility

CERN Document Server

Rimjaem, Sakhorn; Kangrang, Nopadol; Kusoljariyakul, Keerati; Rhodes, Michael W; Saisut, Jatuporn; Thongbai, Chitrlada; Vilaithong, Thiraphat; Wichaisirimongkol, Pathom; Wiedemann, Helmut

2005-01-01

The SURIYA project at the Fast Neutron Research Facility (FNRF) has been established and is being commissioning to generate femtosecond electron pulses. Theses short pulses are produced by a system consisting of an S-band thermionic cathode RF-gun, an alpha magnet as a magnetic bunch compressor, and a linear accelerator. The characteristics of its major components and the beam characterizations as well as the preliminary experimental results will be presented and discussed.

Increases in CO2 from past low to future high levels result in “slower” strategies on the leaf economic spectrum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Temme, Andries A.; Liu, Jin Chun; van Hal, Jurgen; Cornwell, Will K.; Cornelissen, Johannes (Hans) H.C.; Aerts, Rien

2017-01-01

Depending on resource availability plants exhibit a specific suite of traits. At the interspecific level these traits follow the leaf economic spectrum (LES), traits related to slow turnover when resources are poor and fast turnover when resources are plentiful. Limited data shows that within

Was The Electromagnetic Spectrum A Blackbody Spectrum In The Early Universe?

OpenAIRE

Opher, Merav; Opher, Reuven

1997-01-01

It is assumed, in general, that the electromagnetic spectrum in the Primordial Universe was a blackbody spectrum in vacuum. We derive the electromagnetic spectrum, based on the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem that describes the electromagnetic fluctuations in a plasma. Our description includes thermal and collisional effects in a plasma. The electromagnetic spectrum obtained differs from the blackbody spectrum in vacuum at low frequencies. In particular, concentrating on the primordial nucleo...

Fast Convolution Module (Fast Convolution Module)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bierens, L

1997-01-01

This report describes the design and realisation of a real-time range azimuth compression module, the so-called 'Fast Convolution Module', based on the fast convolution algorithm developed at TNO-FEL...

Was The Electromagnetic Spectrum A Blackbody Spectrum In The Early Universe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Opher, M.; Opher, R.

1997-01-01

It is generally assumed that the electromagnetic spectrum in the primordial universe was a blackbody spectrum in vacuum. We derive the electromagnetic spectrum based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem that describes the electromagnetic fluctuations in a plasma. Our description includes thermal and collisional effects in a plasma. The electromagnetic spectrum obtained differs from a blackbody spectrum in vacuum at low frequencies. In particular, concentrating on the primordial nucleosynthesis era, it has more energy than the blackbody spectrum for frequencies less than 3ω pe to 6ω pe , where ω pe is the electron plasma frequency. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

The APOLLO assembly spectrum code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kavenoky, A.; Sanchez, R.

1987-04-01

The APOLLO code was originally developed as a design tool for HTR's, later it was aimed at the calculation of PWR lattices. APOLLO is a general purpose assembly spectrum code based on the multigroup integral transport equation; refined collision probability modules allow the computation of 1D geometries with linearly anisotropic scattering and two term flux expansion. In 2D geometries modules based on the substructure method provide fast and accurate design calculations and a module based on a direct discretization is devoted to reference calculations. The SPH homogenization technique provides corrected cross sections performing an equivalence between coarse and refined calculations. The post processing module of APOLLO generate either APOLLIB to be used by APOLLO or NEPLIB for reactor diffusion calculation. The cross section library of APOLLO contains data and self-shielding data for more than 400 isotopes. APOLLO is able to compute the depletion of any medium accounting for any heavy isotope or fission product chain. 21 refs