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Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
N. M. Larson, L. C. Leal, H. Derrien
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 131 | Number 2 | February 1999 | Pages 254-266
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2032
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron time-of-flight experiments have long been used to determine resonance parameters. Those resonance parameters have then been used in calculations of integral quantities such as Maxwellian averages or resonance integrals, and results of those calculations in turn have been used as a criterion for acceptability of the resonance analysis. However, the calculations were inadequate because covariances on the parameter values were not included in the calculations. An effort to correct for that deficiency is documented: The R-matrix analysis code SAMMY has been modified to include integral quantities of importance, directly within the resonance parameter analysis, to determine the best fit to both differential (microscopic) and integral (macroscopic) data simultaneously. This modification was implemented because it is expected to have an impact on the intermediate energy range that is important for criticality safety applications.