Abstract
There is growing interest in using 242mAm as a nuclear fuel for space reactors and nuclear batteries. In this paper, we discuss different 242mAm enrichments, as well as fuel weight requirements, to produce a critical reactor. It was found that relatively low enrichments of 242mAm, about 10w/o, are enough to guarantee criticality. Such low enrichments might eliminate the need for a 242mAm enrichment process. It was also found that the best results for low 242mAm requirements are obtained with a moderator to fuel volume ratio of 10,000.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 558-567 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment |
| Volume | 522 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 21 Apr 2004 |
Keywords
- Am
- Space reactors
- Ultra-thin fuel
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Instrumentation