A Comparison of Theoretical Decay Heat Calculations and Experimental Data PDF Download

Author: Michael Alan Bjerke
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive decay
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
The experimental measurements of the decay heat from the products of the thermal fission of U-235 have been compared with the OSU-proposed decay heat standard. These experiments are intended to verify the decay heat calculational methods and nuclear data files. The comparisons have included the previous experiments reviewed by Perry in 1973, and have extended the review to the current set of experiments. In addition, the calorimetric experiment of Lott, not included in Perry's evaluation, has been compared with the proposed standard. Except for the calorimetric experiment of Lott, none of the previous experiments were sufficient to judge the standard because of the large uncertainties they exhibited. The current experiments, however, have demonstrated much lower uncertainties and appear to constitute a reliable basis for the verification of the standard. Although some inconsistencies exist in the preliminary data of the ongoing experiments, the problems should be resolved before the final results are published. From the preliminary data of the ongoing experiments and from the final data of Lott, it is seen that there is substantive disagreement between calculation and experiment for short times after fission. This is probably due to the uncertainties in the nuclear data files for those fission products with short half-lives, which make a significant contribution to the decay heat at short cooling times.