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The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
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Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
J A Mason, G Vassallo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 425-429
Safety; Measurement and Accountability; Operation and Maintenance; Application | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29782
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calorimetry is a technique for measuring the thermal power of heat producing samples and it is widely used in a variety of measurement fields including chemical energy measurement, nuclear half-life determination and nuclear materials accounting and safeguards1, 2. The technique has specific application in measuring the heat produced by the radioactive decay of tritium bearing materials. This paper describes the design and proposed operation of a transportable isothermal tritium calorimeter for use as part of the measurement instrumentation of the JRC Ispra European Tritium Handling Experimental Laboratory (ETHEL). An instrument based on this design is currently under construction. The advantages of the use of the instrument are discussed as are the issues of safety, measurement accuracy, measurement time and ease of use. Data are presented from measurements of low power plutonium samples (which simulate tritium in a uranium bed) using a plutonium calorimeter based on similar design concepts. The measurements correspond to tritium quantities ranging from less than 1 kCi (37 TBq) up to greater than 100 kCi (3.7 PBq or 10 grams).