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Inhour Equation
The Inhour equation used in nuclear reactor kinetics to relate reactivity and the reactor period. Inhour is short for "inverse hour" and is defined as the reactivity which will make the stable reactor period equal to 1 hour (3,600 seconds). Reactivity is more commonly expressed as per cent millie (pcm) of Δk/k or dollars. The Inhour equation is obtained by dividing the reactivity equation, Equation 1, by the corresponding value of the inhour unit, shown by Equation 2. \rho (reactivity)= \frac+\sum_^6\frac quation 1 In = \frac quation 2 ρ = reactivity l*= neutron generation time Tp= reactor period βi= fraction of delayed neutrons of ith kind λi= precursor decay constant of ith kind For small reactivity or large reactor periods, unity may be neglected in comparison with λiTp and λi3600 and the Inhour equation can be simplified to Equation 3. In = \frac quation 3 The inhour equation is initially derived from the point kineti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. , the International Atomic Energy Agency reports there are 422 nuclear power reactors and 223 nuclear research reactors in operation around the world. In the early era of nuclear reactors (1940s), a reactor was known as a nuclear pile or atomic pile (so-called because the graphite moderator blocks of the first reactor were placed into a tall pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reactivity (chemistry)
In chemistry, reactivity is the impulse for which a chemical substance undergoes a chemical reaction, either by itself or with other materials, with an overall release of energy. ''Reactivity'' refers to: * the chemical reactions of a single substance, * the chemical reactions of two or more substances that interact with each other, * the systematic study of sets of reactions of these two kinds, * methodology that applies to the study of reactivity of chemicals of all kinds, * experimental methods that are used to observe these processes * theories to predict and to account for these processes. The chemical reactivity of a single substance (reactant) covers its behavior in which it: * Decomposes * Forms new substances by addition of atoms from another reactant or reactants * Interacts with two or more other reactants to form two or more products The chemical reactivity of a substance can refer to the variety of circumstances (conditions that include temperature, pressure, prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Per Cent Mille
A per cent mille or pcm is one one-thousandth of a percent. It can be thought of as a "milli-percent". It is commonly used in epidemiology, and in nuclear reactor engineering as a unit of reactivity. Epidemiology Statistics of crime rates, mortality and disease prevalence in a population are often given in Nuclear Reactivity In nuclear reactor engineering, a per cent mille is equal to one-thousandth of a percent of the reactivity, denoted by Greek lowercase letter rho. Reactivity is a dimensionless unit representing a departure from criticality, calculated by: :\rho=(k_-1)/k_ where keff denotes the effective multiplication factor for the reaction. Therefore, one pcm is equal to: :1~\text = \rho \cdot 10^5 This unit is commonly used in the operation of light-water reactor sites because reactivity values tend to be small, so measuring in pcm allows reactivity to be expressed using whole numbers. Related units * Percentage point difference of 1 part in 100 * Percentage (%) 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dollar (reactivity)
A dollar is a unit of reactivity for a nuclear reactor, calibrated to the interval between the conditions of delayed criticality and prompt criticality. Zero dollars is defined to be the threshold of slow criticality, which means a steady reaction rate. One dollar is defined to be the threshold of prompt criticality, which means a nuclear excursion or explosion. A cent is of a dollar. Meaning and use Each nuclear fission produces several neutrons that can be absorbed, escape from the reactor, or go on to cause more fissions in a chain reaction. When an average of one neutron from each fission goes on to cause another fission, the reactor is just barely "critical" and the chain reaction proceeds at a constant power level. Most neutrons produced in fission are "prompt", i.e., created with the fission products in less than about 10 nanoseconds (a "shake" of time). But certain fission products produce additional neutrons when they decay up to several minutes after their creation b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons behave similarly within the nucleus, and each has a mass of approximately one atomic mass unit, they are both referred to as nucleons. Their properties and interactions are described by nuclear physics. Protons and neutrons are not elementary particles; each is composed of three quarks. The chemical properties of an atom are mostly determined by the configuration of electrons that orbit the atom's heavy nucleus. The electron configuration is determined by the charge of the nucleus, which is determined by the number of protons, or atomic number. The number of neutrons is the neutron number. Neutrons do not affect the electron configuration, but the sum of atomic and neutron numbers is the mass of the nucleus. Atoms of a chemical element t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delayed Neutron
In nuclear engineering, a delayed neutron is a neutron emitted after a nuclear fission event, by one of the fission products (or actually, a fission product daughter after beta decay), any time from a few milliseconds to a few minutes after the fission event. Neutrons born within 10−14 seconds of the fission are termed "prompt neutrons". In a nuclear reactor large nuclides fission into two neutron-rich fission products (i.e. unstable nuclides) and free neutrons (prompt neutrons). Many of these fission products then undergo radioactive decay (usually beta decay) and the resulting nuclides are unstable with respect to beta decay. A small fraction of them are excited enough to be able to beta-decay by emitting a delayed neutron in addition to the beta. The moment of beta decay of the precursor nuclides - which are the precursors of the delayed neutrons - happens orders of magnitude later compared to the emission of the prompt neutrons. Hence the neutron that originates from the prec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Fission Product
Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus undergoes nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release of heat energy (kinetic energy of the nuclei), and gamma rays. The two smaller nuclei are the ''fission products''. (See also Fission products (by element)). About 0.2% to 0.4% of fissions are ternary fissions, producing a third light nucleus such as helium-4 (90%) or tritium (7%). The fission products themselves are usually unstable and therefore radioactive. Due to being relatively neutron-rich for their atomic number, many of them quickly undergo beta decay. This releases additional energy in the form of beta particles, antineutrinos, and gamma rays. Thus, fission events normally result in beta and gamma radiation, even though this radiation is not produced directly by the fission event itself. The produced radionuclides have vary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prompt Neutron
In nuclear engineering, a prompt neutron is a neutron immediately emitted (neutron emission) by a nuclear fission event, as opposed to a delayed neutron decay which can occur within the same context, emitted after beta decay of one of the fission products anytime from a few milliseconds to a few minutes later. Prompt neutrons emerge from the fission of an unstable fissionable or fissile heavy nucleus almost instantaneously. There are different definitions for how long it takes for a prompt neutron to emerge. For example, the United States Department of Energy defines a prompt neutron as a neutron born from fission within 10−13 seconds after the fission event. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines a prompt neutron as a neutron emerging from fission within 10−14 seconds. This emission is controlled by the nuclear force and is extremely fast. By contrast, so-called delayed neutrons are delayed by the time delay associated with beta decay (mediated by the weak force) to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermal-neutron Reactor
A thermal-neutron reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses slow or thermal neutrons. ("Thermal" does not mean hot in an absolute sense, but means in thermal equilibrium with the medium it is interacting with, the reactor's fuel, moderator and structure, which is much lower energy than the fast neutrons initially produced by fission.) Most nuclear power plant reactors are thermal reactors and use a neutron moderator to slow neutrons until they approach the average kinetic energy of the surrounding particles, that is, to reduce the speed of the neutrons to low-velocity, thermal neutrons. Neutrons are uncharged, this allows them to penetrate deep in the target and close to the nuclei,Squires, G.L. (2012, March 29). Introduction of the Theory of Thermal Neutron Scattering. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KUVD8KJt7_0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=thermal-neutron+reactor&ots=1tn_4dppSF&sig=QDWkMU5-iW8_4GCXjItypUchKBQ#v=onepage&q=thermal-neutron%20reactor&f=false thus scattering neutrons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exponential Decay
A quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value. Symbolically, this process can be expressed by the following differential equation, where is the quantity and (lambda) is a positive rate called the exponential decay constant, disintegration constant, rate constant, or transformation constant: :\frac = -\lambda N. The solution to this equation (see derivation below) is: :N(t) = N_0 e^, where is the quantity at time , is the initial quantity, that is, the quantity at time . Measuring rates of decay Mean lifetime If the decaying quantity, ''N''(''t''), is the number of discrete elements in a certain set, it is possible to compute the average length of time that an element remains in the set. This is called the mean lifetime (or simply the lifetime), where the exponential time constant, \tau, relates to the decay rate constant, λ, in the following way: :\tau = \frac. The mean lifetime can be looked at as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
