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Re: Two questions on Japan accident
Hal Moe's book, "Operational Health Physics Training," (published by Argonne
National Laboratory as Technical Report, ANL-88-26 in September, 1988) contains
an excellent introduction to the characteristics, dosimetry, and prevention of
unwanted nuclear criticalities (pages 15-38ff).
Unfortunately, this is too long to fax; don't even think about asking.
The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com
"Karam, Andrew" wrote:
> >1. Is 18% normal for power reactor fuel enrichment?
>
> 18% is high for "normal" power reactors. They run from about 3-6%. This
> was for (I believe) a fast breeder reactor.
>
> >2. Is 35 lbs @ 18% really likely to go critical?
>
> According to Critical Dimensions of Systems Containing 235U, 239Pu, and 233U
> (LANL, 1986) the minimum critical mass of a spherical, homogeneous,
> water-reflected solution of uranium at 18% enrichment is a little over 1 kg,
> or about 5 kg total uranium weight. The minimum spherical critical volume
> is about 13 liters. Any more mass or any smaller volume will sustain
> criticality. Different geometries may or may not support criticality
> because of neutron leakage.
>
> Andy
>
> Andrew Karam, CHP (716) 275-1473 (voice)
> Radiation Safety Officer (716) 275-3781 (office)
> University of Rochester (716) 256-0365 (fax)
> 601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH Rochester, NY 14642
>
> Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
> http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
> Can a knowledgeable radsafer educate me a bit by clarifying two points
> from the IAEA news release on the accident:
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information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html