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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
D. P. Brown, W. G. Spear
Nuclear Technology | Volume 23 | Number 1 | July 1974 | Pages 87-93
Technical Paper | Instrument | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31436
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A detector using a gas-flow technique to measure the in-core fast neutron flux was designed, developed, and experimentally tested. Based on the 9Be(n,α)6He reaction of neutrons with beryllium, the method uses a flowing gas (helium) to bring the 6He beta emitter to an ex-vessel beta detector to achieve measurements independent of the gamma irradiation of the in-vessel neutron detector. In tests at the TRIGA reactor of Washington State University, the system demonstrated a fast neutron sensitivity of 3.7 × 10−10 counts/sec per n/(cm2 sec). Thus, using appropriate counting techniques, the technique could have an operational range of 109 to 1016n/(cm2 sec).