Measurement of Isfahan heavy water zero-power reactor kinetic parameters using advanced pulsed neutron source method in a near critical state

Z Nasr; M Iravani; J Mokhtari

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.111126

Measurement of Isfahan heavy water zero-power reactor kinetic parameters using advanced pulsed neutron source method in a near critical state

Appl Radiat Isot. 2024 Feb:204:111126. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.111126. Epub 2023 Nov 27.

Authors

Z Nasr¹, M Iravani¹, J Mokhtari²

Affiliations

¹ Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Isfahan, Iran.
² Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Isfahan, Iran. Electronic address: jvmokhtari@aeoi.org.ir.

PMID: 38039828
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.111126

Abstract

The pulsed neutron source (PNS) technique was used to determine the prompt neutron decay constant for two different lattice pitches in the HWZPR heavy water zero power reactor. The results were compared to the variance-to-mean ratio (VTM) method. The neutron mean generation time was also calculated for both pitches, and the results were compared to previous Monte Carlo calculations. The findings of this research can be used as a benchmark nuclear codes to validate kinetic parameters.

Keywords: Advanced pulsed neutron source; HWZPR; Heavy water research reactors; Kinetic parameters; Neutron mean generation time; Prompt neutron decay constant.