| 1. |
- Wolniewicz, Peter, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
-
Reactivity changes in lead-cooled fast reactors due to bubbles in the coolant
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The formation of bubbles in the coolant of a Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) may originate from a leaking heat-exchanger and is a potential safety hazard. Small bubbles can travel with the coolant without escaping to the cover gas, causing an increasing effective voiding of the coolant in a homogeneous manner. If the small bubbles coalesce into a larger bubble located at a stagnation zone, the reactor core may eventually be exposed to a transient bubble travelling axially through the core with a resulting change in the reactivity of the system. This study is focused on the reactivity changes caused by bubbles of various sizes and for different vertical positions as the bubble rises through the core. Three different sizes of LFR’s; 50 MWth, 300 MWth and 1200 MWth,respectively were user for the study. The 300 MWth reactor design is based on the Advanced LFR European Demonstrator (ALFRED) and the two other reactors are scaled up and scaled down versions of it and these were simulated in order study the sensitivity to void as a function of reactor size. We show that LFR’s may have a positive reactivity response to transient bubbles and that the sensitivity to changes in reactivity is larger the smaller the reactor. For sufficiently large bubbles all reactors may reach prompt criticality.
|
|
| 2. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Correction for dynamic bias error in transmission measurements of void fraction
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 83:12, s. 125110-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dynamic bias errors occur in transmission measurements, such as X-ray, gamma, or neutron radiography or tomography. This is observed when the properties of the object are not stationary in time and its average properties are assessed. The nonlinear measurement response to changes in transmission within the time scale of the measurement implies a bias, which can be difficult to correct for. A typical example is the tomographic or radiographic mapping of void content in dynamic two-phase flow systems. In this work, the dynamic bias error is described and a method to make a first-order correction is derived. A prerequisite for this method is variance estimates of the system dynamics, which can be obtained using high-speed, time-resolved data acquisition. However, in the absence of such acquisition, a priori knowledge might be used to substitute the time resolved data. Using synthetic data, a void fraction measurement case study has been simulated to demonstrate the performance of the suggested method. The transmission length of the radiation in the object under study and the type of fluctuation of the void fraction have been varied. Significant decreases in the dynamic bias error were achieved to the expense of marginal decreases in precision.
|
|
| 3. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Design and initial 1D radiography tests of the FANTOM mobile fast-neutron radiography and tomography system
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 756, s. 82-93
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The FANTOM system is a tabletop sized fast-neutron radiography and tomography system newly developed at the Applied Nuclear Physics Division of Uppsala University. The main purpose of the system is to provide time-averaged steam-and-water distribution measurement capability inside the metallic structures of two-phase test loops for Light Water Reactor thermal-hydraulic studies using a portable fusion neutron generator. The FANTOM system provides a set of 1D neutron transmission data, which may be inserted into tomographic reconstruction algorithms to achieve a 2D mapping of the steam-and-water distribution. In this paper, the selected design of FANTOM is described and motivated. The detector concept is based on plastic scintillator elements, separated for spatial resolution. Analysis of pulse heights on an event-to-event basis is used for energy discrimination. Although the concept allows for close stacking of a large number of detector elements, this demonstrator is equipped with only three elements in the detector and one additional element for monitoring the yield from the neutron generator. The first measured projections on test objects of known configurations are presented. These were collected using a Sodern Genie 16 neutron generator with an isotropic yield of about 1E8 neutrons per second, and allowed for characterization of the instrument’s capabilities. At an energy threshold of 10 MeV, the detector offered a count rate of about 500 cps per detector element. The performance in terms of spatial resolution was validated by fitting a Gaussian Line Spread Function to the experimental data, a procedure that revealed a spatial unsharpness in good agreement with the predicted FWHM of 0.5 mm.
|
|
| 4. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of proton escape on detection efficiency in thin scintillator elements and its consequences for optimization of fast-neutron imaging
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 651:1, s. 110-116
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plastic scintillators are commonly used for neutron detection in the MeV energy range, based on n–p scattering and the subsequent deposition of recoil proton's kinetic energy in the detector material. This detection procedure gives a quasi-rectangular energy deposition distribution for mono-energetic neutrons, extending from zero to the neutron energy. However, if the detector sensitive element (DSE) is small, the energy deposition may be incomplete due to the recoil proton escape.In the application of neutron imaging, here exemplified by fast-neutron tomography, two conflicting requirements have been identified: (1) thin DSEs are required to obtain high spatial resolution and (2) energy discrimination may be required to reduce the influence of neutrons being scattered into the DSEs, which generally occurs at lower energies. However, at small DSE widths, the reduction of energy deposition due to recoil proton escape may cause a significant decrease in detection efficiency when energy discrimination is applied.In this work, energy deposition distributions in small-size DSEs have been simulated for Deuterium–Deuterium (DD; 2.5 MeV) and Deuterium–Tritium (DT; 14.1 MeV) fusion neutrons. The intrinsic efficiency has been analyzed as a function of energy discrimination level for various detector widths. The investigations show that proton recoil escape causes a significant drop in intrinsic detection efficiency for thin DSEs. For DT neutrons, the drop is 10% at a width of 3.2 mm and 50% at a width of 0.6 mm, assuming an energy threshold at half the incident neutron energy. The corresponding widths for a DD detector are 0.17 and 0.03 mm, respectively.Finally, implications of the proton escape effect on the design of a fast-neutron tomography device for void distribution measurements at Uppsala University are presented. It is shown that the selection of DSE width strongly affects the instrument design when optimizing for image unsharpness.
|
|
| 5. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-
(författare)
-
Fast-Neutron Tomography using a Mobile Neutron Generator for Assessment of Steam-Water Distributions in Two-Phase Flows
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis describes the measurement technique of fast-neutron tomography for assessing spatial distributions of steam and water in two-phase flows. This so-called void distribution is of importance both for safe operation and for efficient use of the fuel in light water reactors, which compose the majority of the world’s commercial nuclear reactors. The technique is aimed for usage at thermal-hydraulic test loops, where heated two-phase flows are being investigated under reactor-relevant conditions.By deploying portable neutron generators in transmission tomography, the technique becomes applicable to stationary objects, such as thermal-hydraulic test loops. Fast neutrons have the advantage of high transmission through metallic structures while simultaneously being relatively sensitive to the water/void content. However, there are also challenges, such as the relatively low yield of commercially available fast-neutron generators, the tendency of fast neutrons to scatter in the interactions with materials and the relatively low efficiency encountered in fast-neutron detection.The thesis describes the design of a prototype instrument, FANTOM, which has been assembled and demonstrated. The main design parameters have been optimized to achieve maximal signal count rate in the detector elements, while simultaneously reaching an image unsharpness of ≤0.5 mm. Radiographic projections recorded with the assembled instrument are presented, and the performance parameters of FANTOM are deduced.Furthermore, tomographic reconstruction methods for axially symmetric objects, which is relevant for some test loops, have been developed and demonstrated on measured data from three test objects. The attenuation distribution was reconstructed with a radial resolution of 0.5 mm and an RMS error of 0.02 cm-1, based on data recorded using an effective measurement time of 3.5 hours per object. For a thermal-hydraulic test loop, this can give a useful indication of the flow mode, but further development is desired to improve the precision of the measurements.Instrument upgrades are foreseen by introducing a more powerful neutron generator and by adding detector elements, speeding up the data collection by several orders of magnitude and allowing for higher precision data. The requirements and performance of an instrument for assessment of arbitrary non-symmetric test loops is discussed, based on simulations.
|
|
| 6. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Neutron tomography for void distribution measurements
- 2010
-
Ingår i: ENC 2010 Transactions. - 9789295064096 ; , s. 40-45
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Neutron tomography has previously been performed using large, stationary neutron sources such as reactors and spallation sources for applications where the object under study can be transported to the source. This paper accounts for the challenges met when applying neutron tomography using a portable accelerator driven neutron generator, which is required when studying non-transportable objects. In general, portable sources offer significantly lower neutron yields than stationary sources, implying the need for either longer measurement times or highly efficient measurement and/or analysis procedures.The particular application investigated here is the mapping of steam distributions in water (void distribution), which is of high importance for the performance of nuclear fuel assemblies in boiling water reactors (BWR). The void distribution cannot be measured directly in a reactor core, so instead various electrically-heated thermal-hydraulic test loops are used. In these loops, void correlations can be determined in full-size fuel-assembly models, such as FRIGG in Sweden and DESIRE in Holland, but measurements are also performed in smaller, less complicated geometries. Previously, gamma tomography has been used to measure the void distribution in the FRIGG loop. However, improved capabilities to map the void distribution can be expected using neutrons because of their higher sensitivity to water relative to metal structures, as compared to gamma rays. At the same time, neutrons as probe also give rise to some challenges, such as high background from scattering.This paper investigates the possibility to use neutron tomography at axially symmetric objects such as the HWAT test loop in Sweden, where an annular two-phase flow of water/void is confined and heated by a steel cylinder. Monte Carlo simulations of the HWAT geometry and a suggested measurement setup have been carried out, using the particle transport code MCNPX. A reconstruction technique which exploits the symmetries in the test loop has been developed, making it possible to reconstruct the internal void distribution from one single projection. A reconstruction is presented, which is based on simulated data corresponding to a 13-min measurement using a DT source emitting 2∙109 neutrons/s. The reconstruction offers a radial view of the local void fraction in 10 annular sections of HWAT, with uncertainties between 2 and 5 void percent units.
|
|
| 7. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Neutron tomography of axially symmetric objects using 14 MeV neutrons from a portable neutron generator
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 85:8, s. 085109-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In nuclear boiling water reactor cores, the distribution of water and steam (void) is essential for both safety and efficiency reasons. In order to enhance predictive capabilities, void distribution assessment is performed in two-phase test-loops under reactor-relevant conditions. This article proposes the novel technique of fast-neutron tomography using a portable deuterium-tritium neutron generator to determine the void distribution in these loops.Fast neutrons have the advantage of high transmission through the metallic structures and pipes typically concealing a thermal-hydraulic test loop, while still being fairly sensitive to the water/void content. However, commercially available fast-neutron generators also have the disadvantage of a relatively low yield and fast-neutron detection also suffers from relatively low detection efficiency. Fortunately, some loops are axially symmetric, a property which can be exploited to reduce the amount of data needed for tomographic measurement, thus limiting the interrogation time needed.In this article, three axially-symmetric test objects depicting a thermal-hydraulic test loop have been examined; steel pipes with outer diameter 24 mm, thickness 1.5 mm and with three different distributions of the plastic material POM inside the pipes. Data recorded with the FANTOM fast-neutron tomography instrument have been used to perform tomographic reconstructions to assess their radial material distribution. Here, a dedicated tomographic algorithm that exploits the symmetry of these objects has been applied, which is described in the paper.Results are demonstrated in 20 rixel (radial pixel) reconstructions of the interior constitution and 2D visualization of the pipe interior is demonstrated. The local POM attenuation coefficients in the rixels were measured with errors (RMS) of 0.025, 0.020 and 0.022 cm-1, solid POM attenuation coefficient. The accuracy and precision is high enough to provide a useful indication on the flow mode, and a visualization of the radial material distribution can be obtained. A benefit of this system is its potential to be mounted at any axial height of a two-phase test section without requirements for pre-fabricated entrances or windows. This could mean a significant increase in flexibility of the void distribution assessment capability at many existing two-phase test loops.
|
|
| 8. |
- Andersson, Peter, 1981-
(författare)
-
Optimization of Equipment for Tomographic Measurements of Void Distributions using Fast Neutrons
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis describes a novel nondestructive measuring technique for determiningspatial distributions of two-phase water flows. In Boiling Water Reactors, which compose themajority of the world's commercial nuclear reactors, this so called void distribution is of importance for safe operation.The presented measurement technique relies on fast neutron transmission tomography using portable neutron generators. Varying hardware options for such an instrument based on this technique and a prototype instrument, which is under construction, are described. The main design parameters are detailed and motivated from a performance point of view. A Paretomultiple objective optimization of the count rate and image unsharpness is presented. The resulting instrument design comprises an array of plastic scintillators for neutron detection. Such detector elements allow for spectroscopic data acquisition and subsequent reduction of background events at low energy by means of introducing an energy threshold in the analysis.The thesis includes two papers: In paper I, the recoil proton energy deposition distribution resulting from the interaction of the incoming neutrons is investigated for thin plastic scintillator elements. It is shown that the recoil proton losses have a large effect on the pulse height distribution and the intrinsic neutron detection efficiency is calculated for varying energy thresholds.In paper II the performance of the planned FANTOM device is investigated using the particle transport code MCNP5. An axially symmetric phantom void distribution is modeled and there construction is compared with the correct solution. According to the solutions, the phantom model can be reconstructed with 10 equal size ring-shaped picture elements, with a precision of better than 5 void percent units using a deuterium-tritium neutron generator with a yield of 3 · 107 neutrons per second and a measurement time of 13 h. However, it should be noted that commercial neutron generators with a factor of 103 higher yields exist and that the measurement time could decrease to less than a minute if such a neutron generator would beutilized.
|
|
| 9. |
- Branger, Erik, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
-
Experimental evaluation of models for predicting Cherenkov light intensities from short-cooled nuclear fuel assemblies
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 13
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device (DCVD) is a tool used by nuclear safeguards inspectors to verify irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage based on the recording of Cherenkov light produced by the assemblies. One type of verification involves comparing the measured light intensity from an assembly with a predicted intensity, based on assembly declarations. Crucial for such analyses is the performance of the prediction model used, and recently new modelling methods have been introduced to allow for enhanced prediction capabilities by taking the irradiation history into account, and by including the cross-talk radiation from neighbouring assemblies in the predictions.In this work, the performance of three models for Cherenkov-light intensity prediction is evaluated by applying them to a set of short-cooled PWR 17x17 assemblies for which experimental DCVD measurements and operator-declared irradiation data was available; (1) a two-parameter model, based on total burnup and cooling time, previously used by the safeguards inspectors, (2) a newly introduced gamma-spectrum-based model, which incorporates cycle-wise burnup histories, and (3) the latter gamma-spectrum-based model with the addition to account for contributions from neighbouring assemblies.The results show that the two gamma-spectrum-based models provide significantly higher precision for the measured inventory compared to the two-parameter model, lowering the standard deviation between relative measured and predicted intensities from 15.2% to 8.1% respectively 7.8%.The results show some systematic differences between assemblies of different designs (produced by different manufacturers) in spite of their similar PWR 17x17 geometries, and possible ways are discussed to address such differences, which may allow for even higher prediction capabilities. Still, it is concluded that the gamma-spectrum-based models enable confident verification of the fuel assembly inventory at the currently used detection limit for partial defects, being a 30% discrepancy between measured and predicted intensities, while some false detection occurs with the two-parameter model. The results also indicate that the gamma-spectrum-based prediction methods are accurate enough that the 30% discrepancy limit could potentially be lowered.
|
|
| 10. |
- Branger, Erik, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
-
Experimental study of background subtraction in Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device measurements
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 13:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Digital Cherenkov Viewing Device (DCVD) is an imaging tool used by authority inspectors for partial defect verification of nuclear fuel assemblies in wet storage, i.e. to verify that part of an assembly has not been diverted. One of the currently adopted verification procedures is based on quantitative measurements of the assembly's Cherenkov light emissions, and comparisons to an expected intensity, calculated based on operator declarations. A background subtraction of the intensity data in the recorded images is necessary for accurate quantitative measurements. The currently used background subtraction is aimed at removing an electronics-induced image-wide offset, but it is argued here that the currently adopted procedure may be insufficient.It is recommended that a standard dark-frame subtraction should be used, to remove systematic pixel-wise background due to the electronics, replacing the currently used offset procedure. Experimental analyses show that a dark-frame subtraction would further enhance the accuracy and reliability of DCVD measurements. Furthermore, should ageing of the CCD chip result in larger systematic pixel-wise deviations over time, a dark-frame subtraction can ensure reliable measurements regardless of the age of the CCD chip. It can also help in eliminating any adverse effects of malfunctioning pixels. In addition to the background from electronic noise, ways to compensate for background from neighbouring fuel assemblies and ambient light are also discussed.
|
|
