Camara Glossary Flashcards
actinide
the element with atomic numbers from 90-103 inclusive
anticipated operational occurrences
events expected to occur one or more times in the life of a nuclear power plant
backscatter
the scattering of radiation in a direction generally opposite the original direction
biological half-life
the time required for a certain substance in a biological system to be reduced to one-half its original value
blanket
a fertile material placed around a core for the purpose of breeding or conversion
buckling, geometric
the first eigenvalue of the flux equation; it depends on the geometry of the core and it characterizes a bare critical core
buckling, material
characterizes the flux in a system of uniform composition; it depends on the materials used
buildup flux
the flux that accounts of the interaction of radiation with a medium
cadmium cutoff
the energy below which the detector response would not change if the cadmium cover were replaced with a material opaque to neutrons below said energy
Cerenkov radiation
the radiation emitted by a charged particle moving through a material with a speed greater than the speed of light in that material (this is the blue glow so many have heard of and commented on)
conversion
the operation of a reactor in such a manner as to produce one fissile material while another is consumed. In nuclear fuel management, the process of changing U3O8 to UF6.
critical
the condition where a self-sustaining chain reaction occurs. The condition where the effective multiplication factor is one. The condition where the rate of neutron production, excluding those neutron sources not dependent on the fission rate (i.e., source neutrons), is equal to the rate of neutron loss.
Doppler broadening
the observed broadening of a given neutron cross section resonance due to thermal motion in the material of concern.
excess reactivity
that amount of reactivity in a given reactor beyond that required to establish criticality
kerma
the sum of ionized particles’ kinetic energies per unit mass due to interactions with non-ionizing particles. Used often in conjunction with neutron exposure.
nuclear spin
the intrinsic angular momentum of a nucleus. Units are given by “h,” which is Planck’s constant divided by 2*pi.
reactivity
the measure of the deviation from criticality
reflector
the material placed adjacent to the core and designed to scatter the escaping neutrons back into the core
resonance integral
the integral of the product of the absorption cross section and the reciprocal of the neutron energy. Related to the probability of resonance absorption.
void coefficient
the derivative of the reactivity with respect to a void (i.e., the removal of a given material.
