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Latest News
Max Planck’s ELISE reaches record values for ITER plasma heating
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) announced that it recently has achieved a new record for ion current density for neutral particle heating at its ELISE (Extraction from a Large Ion Source Experiment) experimental testing facility in Garching, Germany. ELISE is being used to test neutral beam injection (NBI) systems that will be used to heat the plasma of the ITER fusion experiment in France.
Jesson D. Hutchinson, John D. Bess
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 163 | Number 3 | November 2009 | Pages 285-290
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE163-285
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Subcritical measurements were conducted with an -phase plutonium sphere reflected by nickel hemishells using the 252Cf source-driven noise analysis method to provide criticality safety benchmark data. Measured configurations included a bare plutonium sphere as well as the plutonium sphere reflected by the following nickel thicknesses: 1.27, 2.54, 3.81, 5.08, and 7.62 cm. A certain ratio of spectral quantities was measured for each configuration, which varies linearly with the keff of the system under small perturbations. In addition, two types of Monte Carlo calculations were employed: a modified version of MCNP to calculate the ratio of spectral quantities and a KCODE calculation. From the measured and computed quantities, the effective multiplication factor of each configuration can be approximated. The inferred keff for all six configurations compared well with computed values. A comprehensive uncertainty analysis was then performed that includes uncertainties in the geometry and materials present in the system in addition to the uncertainties in the method and nuclear data.