Delayed fission product gamma-ray transmission through low enriched uranium dioxide fuel pin lattices in air

The transmission of delayed fission-product gamma rays through various arrangements of low-enriched UO2 fuel pin lattices in an air medium was studied. Experimental measurements, point-kernel and Monte Carlo photon transport calculations were performed to demonstrate the shielding effect of ordered lattices of fuel pins on the resulting gamma-ray dose to a detector outside the lattice. The variation of the gamma-ray dose on the outside of the lattice as a function of radial position, the so-called "channeling" effect, was analyzed.; Techniques for performing experimental measurements and data reduction at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Reactor Critical Facility (RCF) were derived. An experimental apparatus was constructed to hold the arrangements of fuel pins for the measurements. A gamma-ray spectroscopy system consisting of a sodium-iodide scintillation detector was used to collect data. Measurements were made with and without a collimator installed.; A point-kernel transport code was developed to map the radial dependence of the gamma-ray flux. Input files for the Monte Carlo code, MCNP, were also developed to accurately model the experimental measurements. The results of the calculations were compared to the experimental measurements. In order to determine the delayed fission-product gamma-ray source for the calculations, a technique was developed using a previously written code, DELBG and the reactor state-point data obtained during the experimental measurements.; Calculations were performed demonstrating the effects of material homogenization on the gamma-ray transmission through the fuel pin lattice. Homogeneous and heterogeneous calculations were performed for all RCF fuel pin lattices as well as for a typical commercial pressurized water reactor fuel bundle.; The results of the study demonstrated the effectiveness of the experimental measurements to isolate the channeling effect of delayed fission-product gamma-rays through lattices of RCF fuel pins in an air medium. The calculational results support the measurements and suggest that under certain conditions material homogenization of fuel pin lattices does not introduce significant error in the dose rate calculation.