External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons
The ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source being commissioned at North Carolina State University’s PULSTAR reactor is uniquely optimized for UCN production in the former graphite-filled thermal column outside of the reactor pool. The source utilizes a remote moderation design, which is particularly well su...
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MDPI AG
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Nuclear Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4362/5/4/30 |
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| author | Graham Medlin Ekaterina Korobkina Cole Teander Bernard Wehring Eduard Sharapov Ayman I. Hawari Paul Huffman Albert R. Young Grant Palmquist Matthew Morano Clark Hickman Thomas Rao Robert Golub |
| author_facet | Graham Medlin Ekaterina Korobkina Cole Teander Bernard Wehring Eduard Sharapov Ayman I. Hawari Paul Huffman Albert R. Young Grant Palmquist Matthew Morano Clark Hickman Thomas Rao Robert Golub |
| author_sort | Graham Medlin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source being commissioned at North Carolina State University’s PULSTAR reactor is uniquely optimized for UCN production in the former graphite-filled thermal column outside of the reactor pool. The source utilizes a remote moderation design, which is particularly well suited to the PULSTAR reactor because of its high thermal and epithermal neutron leakage from the core face. This large non-equilibrium flux from the core is efficiently transported to the UCN source through the specially designed beam port in order to optimize UCN production at any given reactor power. The increased distance to the source from the core also greatly limits the heat load on the cryogenic system. A MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) model of this system was developed and is in good agreement with gold foil activation measurements using a test configuration as well as with the real UCN source’s heavy water moderator. These results established a firm baseline for estimates of the cold neutron flux available for UCN production and prove that remote moderation in a thermal column port is a valuable option for future designs of cryogenic UCN sources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b97cd38c3ee1490a95b5285f769eb0bc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-4362 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Nuclear Engineering |
| spelling | doaj-art-b97cd38c3ee1490a95b5285f769eb0bc2024-12-27T14:33:45ZengMDPI AGJournal of Nuclear Engineering2673-43622024-10-015448649910.3390/jne5040030External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold NeutronsGraham Medlin0Ekaterina Korobkina1Cole Teander2Bernard Wehring3Eduard Sharapov4Ayman I. Hawari5Paul Huffman6Albert R. Young7Grant Palmquist8Matthew Morano9Clark Hickman10Thomas Rao11Robert Golub12Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2500 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2500 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USATriangle University Nuclear Laboratory, 116 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USADepartment of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2500 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USADepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, 2401 Stinson Dr., Raleigh, NC 27695, USAThe ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source being commissioned at North Carolina State University’s PULSTAR reactor is uniquely optimized for UCN production in the former graphite-filled thermal column outside of the reactor pool. The source utilizes a remote moderation design, which is particularly well suited to the PULSTAR reactor because of its high thermal and epithermal neutron leakage from the core face. This large non-equilibrium flux from the core is efficiently transported to the UCN source through the specially designed beam port in order to optimize UCN production at any given reactor power. The increased distance to the source from the core also greatly limits the heat load on the cryogenic system. A MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) model of this system was developed and is in good agreement with gold foil activation measurements using a test configuration as well as with the real UCN source’s heavy water moderator. These results established a firm baseline for estimates of the cold neutron flux available for UCN production and prove that remote moderation in a thermal column port is a valuable option for future designs of cryogenic UCN sources.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4362/5/4/30neutron moderationultra-cold neutronsPULSTAR reactorneutron activationepithermal fluxthermal column |
| spellingShingle | Graham Medlin Ekaterina Korobkina Cole Teander Bernard Wehring Eduard Sharapov Ayman I. Hawari Paul Huffman Albert R. Young Grant Palmquist Matthew Morano Clark Hickman Thomas Rao Robert Golub External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons Journal of Nuclear Engineering neutron moderation ultra-cold neutrons PULSTAR reactor neutron activation epithermal flux thermal column |
| title | External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons |
| title_full | External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons |
| title_fullStr | External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons |
| title_full_unstemmed | External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons |
| title_short | External Moderation of Reactor Core Neutrons for Optimized Production of Ultra-Cold Neutrons |
| title_sort | external moderation of reactor core neutrons for optimized production of ultra cold neutrons |
| topic | neutron moderation ultra-cold neutrons PULSTAR reactor neutron activation epithermal flux thermal column |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4362/5/4/30 |
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