Nuclear and Reactor Physics
Course Code: NE-6103
Kazi Kamrun Naher Ononna
Lecturer, NE
CUET
REACTION RATES
It is possible to determine the rate at which a nuclear reaction will
take place based on the neutron flux, cross section for the interaction,
and atom density of the target. This relationship illustrates how a
change in one of these items affects the reaction rate.
If the total path length of all the neutrons in a cubic centimeter in a
second is known, (neutron flux (Φ)), and if the probability of having
an interaction per centimeter path length is also known (macroscopic
cross section (Ʃ)), multiply them together to get the number of
interactions taking place in that cubic centimeter in one second. This
value is known as the reaction rate and is denoted by the symbol R.
R = Φ Ʃ= ΦN σ
where:
R = reaction rate (reactions/sec)
Φ = neutron flux (neutrons/cm2-sec)
Ʃ = macroscopic cross section (cm-1)
❑ If a one cubic centimeter section of a reactor has a macroscopic
fission cross section of 0.1 cm-1, and if the thermal neutron flux is
1013 neutrons/cm2-sec, what is the fission rate in that cubic
centimeter?
Reactor Power Calculation
Multiplying the reaction rate per unit volume by the total volume of the
core results in the total number of reactions occurring in the core per
unit time. If the amount of energy involved in each reaction were
known, it would be possible to determine the rate of energy release
(power) due to a certain reaction.
In a reactor where the average energy per fission is 200 MeV, it is
possible to determine the number of fissions per second that are
necessary to produce one watt of power using the following
conversion factors.
Relationship Between Neutron Flux and Reactor Power
In an operating reactor the volume of the reactor is constant. Over a
relatively short period of time (days or weeks), the number density of
the fuel atoms is also relatively constant. Since the atom density and
microscopic cross section are constant, the macroscopic cross section
must also be constant. It is apparent that if the reactor volume and
macroscopic cross section are constant, then the reactor power and
the neutron flux are directly proportional. This is true for day-to-day
operation. The neutron flux for a given power level will increase very
slowly over a period of months due to the burnup of the fuel and
resulting decrease in atom density and macroscopic cross section.
NEUTRON MODERATION
In thermal reactors, the neutrons that cause fission are at a
much lower energy than the energy level at which they were
born from fission. In this type of reactor, specific materials must
be included in the reactor design to reduce the energy level of
the neutrons in an efficient manner.
Neutron Slowing Down and Thermalization
Fission neutrons are produced at an average energy level of 2
MeV and immediately begin to slow down as the result of
numerous scattering reactions with a variety of target nuclei.
After a number of collisions with nuclei, the speed of a neutron is
reduced to such an extent that it has approximately the same
average kinetic energy as the atoms (or molecules) of the
medium in which the neutron is undergoing elastic scattering.
This energy, which is only a small fraction of an electron volt at
ordinary temperatures (0.025 eV at 20(C), is frequently referred
to as the thermal energy, since it depends upon the
temperature. Neutrons whose energies have been reduced to
values in this region (< 1 eV) are designated thermal neutrons.
The process of reducing the energy of a neutron to the thermal
region by elastic scattering is referred to as thermalization,
slowing down, or moderation. The material used for the purpose
of thermalizing neutrons is called a moderator.
❑ A good moderator reduces the speed of neutrons in a small
number of collisions, but does not absorb them to any great
extent.
❑ Slowing the neutrons in as few collisions as possible is
desirable in order to reduce the amount of neutron leakage
from the core and also to reduce the number of resonance
absorptions in non-fuel materials.
The ideal moderating material (moderator) should have
❑ large scattering cross section
❑ small absorption cross section
❑ large energy loss per collision
A convenient measure of energy loss per collision is the logarithmic energy
decrement. The average logarithmic energy decrement is the average
decrease per collision in the logarithm of the neutron energy.
Macroscopic Slowing Down Power
Although the logarithmic energy decrement is a
convenient measure of the ability of a material to
slow neutrons, it does not measure all necessary
properties of a moderator. A better measure of the
capabilities of a material is the macroscopic slowing
down power. The macroscopic slowing down power (MSDP) is
the product of the logarithmic energy decrement
and the macroscopic cross section for scattering in
the material.
Moderating Ratio
Macroscopic slowing down power indicates how rapidly a
neutron will slow down in the material in question, but it still
does not fully explain the effectiveness of the material as a
moderator. An element such as boron has a high logarithmic
energy decrement and a good slowing down power, but it is a
poor moderator because of its high probability of absorbing
neutrons.
The most complete measure of the effectiveness of a
moderator is the moderating ratio. The moderating ratio is the
ratio of the macroscopic slowing down power to the
macroscopic cross section for absorption. The higher the
moderating ratio, the more effectively the material performs as
a moderator.
The energy loss after a specified number of collisions
can be calculated using the equation below.
EN = Eo (1 - x)N
PROMPT AND DELAYED NEUTRONS
Not all neutrons are released at the same time following fission.
Most neutrons are released virtually instantaneously and are called
prompt neutrons. A very small fraction of neutrons are released
after the decay of fission products and are called delayed neutrons.
Although delayed neutrons are a very small fraction of the total
number of neutrons, they play an extremely important role in the
control of the reactor.
Neutron Classification
The great majority (over 99%) of the neutrons produced in
fission are released within about 10-13 seconds of the actual
fission event. These are called prompt neutrons. A small
portion of fission neutrons are delayed neutrons, which are
produced for some time after the fission process has taken
place. The delayed neutrons are emitted immediately following
the first beta decay of a fission fragment known as a delayed
neutron precursor
Neutron Generation Time
The neutron generation time is the time required for neutrons from
one generation to cause the fissions that produce the next generation
of neutrons. The generation time for prompt neutrons (l* -
pronounced "ell-star") is the total time from birth to rebirth. Three
time intervals are involved:
❑ the time it takes a fast neutron to slow down to thermal energy,
❑ the time the now thermal neutron exists prior to absorption in fuel,
and
❑ the time required for a fissionable nucleus to emit a fast neutron
after neutron absorption.
Fast neutrons slow to thermal energies or leak out of the reactor in 10-4
seconds to 10-6 seconds, depending on the moderator.
In water moderated reactors, thermal neutrons tend to exist for about
10-4 seconds before they are absorbed. Fission and fast neutron
production following neutron absorption in a fissionable nucleus
occurs in about 10-13 seconds. Thus, fast reactors have an l* of about
10-6 seconds, while thermal reactors have an l* of about 10-6 seconds +
10-4 seconds, which is about 10-4 seconds to 10-5 seconds.
➢ Prompt neutrons are released directly from fission within 10-13
seconds of the fission event.
➢ Delayed neutrons are released from the decay of fission
products that are called delayed neutron precursors. Delayed
neutron precursors are grouped according to half-life. Half-
lives vary from fractions of a second to almost a minute.
➢ The fraction of neutrons born as delayed neutrons is different
for different fuel materials. Following are values for some
common fuel materials.
➢ Delayed neutrons are produced by a classification of fission
products known as delayed neutron precursors. When a
delayed neutron precursor undergoes a - decay, it results in an
excited daughter nucleus which immediately ejects a neutron.
Therefore, these delayed neutrons appear with a half-life of
the delayed neutron precursor.
➢ The delayed neutron generation time is the total time from the birth
of the fast neutron to the emission of the delayed neutron in the
next generation. Delayed neutron generation times are dominated by
the half-life of the delayed neutron precursor. The average delayed
neutron generation time is about 12.5 seconds.
➢ A prompt neutron generation time is the sum of the amount of time
it takes a fast neutron to thermalize, the amount of time the neutron
exists as a thermal neutron before it is absorbed, and the amount of
time between a fissionable nuclide absorbing a neutron and fission
neutrons being released. Prompt neutron generation time is about 5
x 10-5 seconds.
➢ The average neutron generation time can be calculated from the
prompt and delayed neutron generation times and the delayed
neutron fraction using Equation
➢ Delayed neutrons are responsible for the ability to control the rate at
which power can rise in a reactor. If only prompt neutrons existed,
reactor control would not be possible due to the rapid power
changes.
NEUTRON FLUX SPECTRUM
The number of neutrons that exist at a given energy level varies. A
plot of either the fraction of neutrons or the neutron flux at a given
energy versus the energy level is called a neutron energy spectrum.
The neutron energy spectrum varies widely for different types of
reactors.
No attempt is made to thermalize or slow down neutrons in the
fast breeder reactor (liquid metal cooled); therefore, an
insignificant number of neutrons exist in the thermal range. For
the thermal reactor (water moderated), the spectrum of
neutrons in the fast region (> 0.1 MeV) has a shape similar to
that for the spectrum of neutrons emitted by the fission process.
In the thermal reactor, the flux in the intermediate energy region
(1 eV to 0.1 MeV) has approximately a 1/E dependence. That is,
if the energy (E) is halved, the flux doubles. This 1/E dependence
is caused by the slowing down process, where elastic collisions
remove a constant fraction of the neutron energy per collision
(on the average), independent of energy; thus, the neutron loses
larger amounts of energy per collision at higher energies than at
lower energies. The fact that the neutrons lose a constant
fraction of energy per collision causes the neutrons to tend to
"pile up" at lower energies, that is, a greater number of neutrons
exist at the lower energies as a result of this behavior.
Most Probable Neutron Velocities
From these calculations it is evident that the most probable velocity
of a thermal neutron increases as temperature increases. The most
probable velocity at 20C is of particular importance since reference
data, such as nuclear cross sections, are tabulated for a neutron
velocity of 2200 meters per second
