On line neutron flux mapping in fuel coolant channels of a research reactor

L. Barbot (1) , C. Domergue (1) , J.-F. Villard (1) , C. Destouches (1) , G. Braoudakis (2) , D. Wassink (2) , B. Sinclair (2) , J.C. Osborn (2) , H. Wu (2) , C. Blandin (1) , M. Thevenin (3) , G. Corre (3) , S. Normand (3)

1 DER - Département Etude des Réacteurs
2 ANSTO - Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation [Australie]
3 LCAE - Laboratoire Capteurs et Architectures Electroniques

This work deals with the on-line neutron flux mapping of the OPAL research reactor. A specific irradiation device has been set up to investigate fuel coolant channels using subminiature fission chambers to get thermal neutron flux profiles. Experimental results are compared to first neutronic calculations and show good agreement (C/E ∼0.97).

Keywords: on-line neutron flux mapping; Fuels; fission research reactors; fission reactor cooling; Detectors; Radiation effects; Assembly; neutronic calculations; subminiature fission chambers; research reactor; Inductors; Neutrons; fuel coolant channels; OPAL research reactor; Coolants; neutron flux; on line neutron flux mapping; Campbell mode; fission chamber

Domains: Nuclear Experiment [nucl-ex]; Modeling and Simulation

L. Barbot, C. Domergue, J.-F. Villard, C. Destouches, G. Braoudakis, et al.. On line neutron flux mapping in fuel coolant channels of a research reactor. 3rd International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation, Measurement Methods and their Applications (ANIMMA), Jun 2013, Marseille, France. ⟨10.1109/ANIMMA.2013.6727951⟩. ⟨cea-01822353⟩