INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

IPH305:ReactorPhysics
AjayY.Deo

DepartmentofPhysics
RoomNo.305,Ph.:5566

TimeDependentReactor

Objective
To consider the properties when the reactor it is NOT critical.
1. It was assumed in all earlier discussions that the rector was
critical and operating at a constant power.
2. However, this is NOT always true. For instance, at the startup
the reactor must be supercritical to reach the desired power. While it
must be subcritical to shut it down or to reduce the power. The study
of reactor in a non-critical state is called Reactor Kinetics.
3. The degree of criticality is regulated by control rods. Also, the
parameters entering into the value of k are temperature dependent.
4. Two fission products are produced in each fission. Certain of
these nuclei especially 135Xe & 149Sm have large absorption crosssection. Their presence in the reactor has considerable effect on the
value of k. Such fission product poisons will also be discussed.

Reactor Kinetics
Most of the neutrons are emitted at the instance of fission (prompt neutrons).
neutrons
However, a small fraction of neutrons appear long after the fission event
(delayed neutrons).
neutrons The time behavior of a reactor depends on the various
properties of these neutrons.

PromptNeutronLifetime
The average time between the emission of the prompt neutrons and their
absorption in the reactor is called the prompt neutron lifetime and is denoted
bylp.

Consideraninfinitethermalreactor:
It is experimentally observed that the time required to slow down a fast
neutron to thermal energies is much smaller than the time it spends as a
thermal neutron before it is finally absorbed.
The average lifetime of a thermal neutron in an infinite system is called mean
diffusion time and is denoted by td.This implies

Reactor Kinetics

Calculationoftd

Average distance traveled by a thermal neutron of energy E before it is

absorbed is
Therefore, it survives for the time
The mean diffusion time is then the average of the above quantity

t(E) can also be written as

At thermal energies,
Therefore,

From the
discussion on the
thermal neutron
diffusion.

t(E)isconstant,independentofE

Using

ga = 1

Reactor Kinetics
Further,

Mean diffusion time for the moderator

Note:
The above analysis is valid ONLY for thermal reactors. The values
of diffusion times are on the order of 10-2 to 10-4 sec. While for a fast
reactor, these values are on the order of 10-7 sec.

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithNODelayedNeutrons

The delayed neutrons play an important role in reactor kinetics. These neutrons
form only 1% part of the total neutrons emitted in the thermal fission of 235U.
To understand this extraordinary fact, let us first consider a infinite thermal
reactor in the absence of delayed neutrons.
The absorption of a fission neutron lead to generation of fission neutrons.
The mean generation time is defined as the time between the birth of a
neutron and subsequent absorption inducing fission.
In the typical case for k = 1 and with no delayed neutrons, it is equal to lp.
The absorption of a neutron in one generation leads to the absorption of
neutrons in the next generation after lp sec.

Thus, if NF(t) is the number of fissions occurring per cm3/sec at time t, then
the fission rate after lp sec is

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithNODelayedNeutrons

Fission rate at t = 0
Solution

Reactor Period
Foraninfinite,criticalthermalreactorwithhomogeneousmixtureofwater
and235U,thepromptneutronlifetimeis104sec.Ifsuchareactoriscritical
uptotimet=0,andthenifisincreasedfrom1.000to1.001.Compute
theresponseofthereactortothischangein.
Answer
This implies that the flux and hence the power will increase as
is in sec.

e10t, where t

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithNODelayedNeutrons

In the example discussed, the reactor period is 0.1 sec. This implies that
the reactor would pass through 10 periods in just 1 sec. The fission rate
(hence the power) would increase by a factor of e10 = 22,000.
Imagine a reactor operating initially at 1 MW power, the system would
reach a power of 22,000 MW in 1 sec in response to the change in
,
if it doesn't destroy itself, which it would certainly do.
The above analysis was done by omitting delayed neutrons, and doesn't
describe kinetics of an actual reactor. The presence of delayed neutrons
considerably increases the reactor period, making it a lot easier to
control the reactor.

Problem
Afastreactorassemblyconsistingofahomogeneousmixtureof 239Puandsodium
istobemadeintheformofabaresphere.Theatomdensitiesoftheseconstituents
areNF=0.00395x1024forthe239PuandNs=0.0234x1024forthesodium,whilethe
macroscopicabsorptioncrosssectionsare2.11&0.0008,respectively
EstimatethecriticalradiusRcoftheassembly.

Answer

but

Problem
but

Andfrommacroscopictransportcrosssections

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

There are six groups of delayed neutrons.

neutrons To describe reactor kinetics
accurately one needs to consider all these groups. However, it will lead to a
complicated analysis. Therefore, in the following it is assumed, at the
moment, that there is only one group of delayed that appear from a single
hypothetical precursor.
Consider an infinite homogeneous thermal reactor
that may or may not be critical.
Then in view of,
Time-dependent diffusion equation
can be written as
Note that the thermal flux is independent of position.
In the above diffusion equation:

n = density of thermal neutrons

ST= density of neutrons slowing down into thermal energy

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons
Dividing by
since

If all the neutrons

were prompt, then
But some fission neutrons are delayed. This is quantified by the fraction

Then, only the (1 ) fraction are prompt, and their contribution to ST is,
Contribution of the delayed neutrons to the thermal source density is nothing
but the rate of the decay of the precursor (C ) multiplied by the resonance
escape probability p
Atoms/
cm3

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

Now the thermal source density can be written as

Therefore, the diffusion equation becomes

Next we need to determine the equation that will determine the precursor
concentration. This is achieved as follows:
The rate at which fission neutrons, of both
the types, are given by

The rate at which delayed neutrons are produced is then

Since each delayed neutron results per precursor,

the rate at which precursor formed is
The precursor also decays at usual rate

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

Therefore, the equation which determines the precursor concentration is

These two coupled differential equations
must be solved to determine C & `
Now consider that a reactor is critical up to time t = 0, and
= 1. Then a
step change is made in
so that the reactor is super critical or subcritical.
It is required to determine C & ` as a function of time after t = 0.
These equations can be solved by assuming solutions of the form:
where A & C0 are constants, and w is a
&
parameter to be determined.
Substitution of expression of C into precursor equation gives
Last three expressions when substituted
into diffusion equation yields

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

Reactivity()oftheinfinitereactor

For a finite reactor,

In terms of reactivity,

Reactivityequationforone
groupdelayedneutrons.
If reactor is supercritical, then reactivity is positive, and the reactor is said
to have positive reactivity.
On the other hand, if the reactor is subcritical, then reactivity is negative and
the reactor is said to have negative reactivity.
Values of reactivity are restricted in the range

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons
This gives the relation between
reactivity and w, which in turn will
define solutions of the DE.

The above equation must be solved to obtain the value of w for a given value
of reactivity. This can be done by plotting RHS of the above equation as a
function of w.
NOTE:
Three branches
Roots are located by intersections
for a given value of reactivity
Two intersections for a given value
of reacivity.
Solution can then be written as
w2<w1, 2nd term dies
with increasing time
-ve reactivity:
reactivity w2<w1 and again 2nd term dies with increasing time.
+ve reactivity:
reactivity

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

In case of +ve reactivity, the flux increases as

While in the case of -ve reactivity, the flux decreases as
In both the cases,
Reciprocal of w1 is called reactor period or stable period
Then the flux behaviour can be written as
If all the six delayed groups are considered, then the reactivity equation can
be written as
Now there will be seven roots for
a given value of reacivity.
However, as earlier, only the first root is more relevant, and the flux
eventually approaches
Reactor period is again reciprocal of w1

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

The reactor period for 235U fueled reactor

obtained using the six group reactivity
equation for negative and positive reactivities
is shown in the figure.
Now let us consider again that the value of
is varied from 1.000 to 1.001. What will be
the response of the reactor to this change?
The above change in the value of
multiplication factor implies lp = 10-4
and reactivity = 10-3.
The reactor period can then be directly read
from the plot, which comes out to be

57sec.
57sec

Reactor Kinetics

ReactorwithDelayedNeutrons

Again consider,
FOR A FAST REACTOR:
The prompt neutrons lifetime, as noted earlier lp is on the order of 10-7 sec.
Then the quantity wlp can be neglected. Then the reactivity equation for a
fast reactor becomes,

For a fast reactor fueled with 235U, values of period can be obtained from the
previous plot for a curve lp = 0.

Reactor Kinetics

ThePromptCriticalState

Multiplication factor as far as prompt neutrons are concerned is (1- )k.

Therefore, when (1- )k = 1, the reactor is said to be prompt critical.
In this case the period is very short.
The reactivity for the prompt critical state can be found by substituting

k = 1/ (1- ) into
But since = 0.0065, for thermal neutron induced fission of 235U. The thermal
reactor fueled with 235U becomes prompt critical by addition of only about
0.0065 or 0.65% in reactivity.
The amount of reactivity necessary to make a reactor prompt critical is used to
define unit of reactivity called dollar. Note that the value of varies from
fuel to fuel, hence dollar is NOT an absolute unit.
e.g., a dollar is worth 0.0065 (value of ) in reactivity for 235U fueled reactor
while a dollar is worth 0.0026 in reactivity for 233U fueled reactor.
The reactivity equal to One hundredth of a dollar is called cent.

Reactor Kinetics

EqualtoONE

It is assumed that the precursor concentration is constant at its value in the

critical reactor. Then dC/dt = 0, therefore
Since originally multiplication factor = 1

For

< 1, i.e. for reactivity less than prompt critical, the two

exponentials die out with period of

This is very short in the absence of delayed

neutrons.

Reactor Kinetics

EqualtoONE

Then flux quickly assumes value of

But,
Hence,

This equation used to see the effect of changing k, or in other words

changing reactivity.
Two separate cases can be considered:
one for positive reactivity i.e. when increase in the power is required,
and the second for negative reactivity.
One more case can also be considered when

isNOTEqualtoONE

Temperature effects on Reactivity

The parameters that determine multiplication factor depend on temperature. Any
change in the temperature will change k, and hence alters the reactivity of the system.
This in turn determines the reactor operation, and ultimately its safety.

TemperatureCoefficients
Effect of temperature on the reactivity is quantified in terms of
Temperature Coefficient of Reactivity, and is denoted as
But,

Temperature coefficient of reactivity is equal to the fractional change in

k per unit change in temperature.
Unit: (degrees)-1
The algebraic sign of the TCR determines response of the reactor to the
change in temperature.

Temperature effects on Reactivity

Three different cases can be discussed:
2 for positive TCR and 1 for negative TCR

CASE1:+vereactivity

Note that k is always positive. Then dk/dT is also positive. This implies that
the increase in T will increase k.
Now, if for some reason the temperature of the reactor increases. This
increases k. The increase in k will increase the power, which increases T,
T
which in turn will increase k and so on.
Therefore, with positive TCR, rise in temperature will lead to ever increasing
temperature and power, until the reactor is eventually shut down by external
intervention or it melts down.

CASE2:+vereactivity
Now suppose the temperature of the reactor decreases. This implies decrease in
k, which will decrease the power. This, in turn, will decrease the temperature,
further reducing k, & so on. Then reactor will eventually shut down.

Temperature effects on Reactivity

CASE3:vereactivity

This implies dk/dT is also negative.

Consider an increase in T, this will decrease k; which implies reduction in

power hence decrease in T. This returns the reactor to its original state.
On the other hand, if T decreases then k increases, which will increase power
- increasing temperature. This returns the reactor to its original state.
From all the three cases it is clear that a reactor with POSITIVE TCR is
inherently unstable, while a reactor having NEGATIVE TCR is
inherently stable.
Increase in reactor power is reflected first in the rise in the fuel temp. In case
of thermal reactor, temp. of coolant and moderator rises when the heat is
transferred to these regions from fuel. One can then, define Temp. Coeff. for
different. e.g.
The Fuel Temp. Coeff. is defined as the fractional change in k per unit
change in fuel temp.
The Moderator Temp. Coeff. is defined as the fractional change in k per
unit rise in moderator temp.

Temperature effects on Reactivity

Since fuel temperature reacts immediately to the change in the reactor power,
the fuel temp. coeff. is also known as prompt temperature coefficient and is
denoted as
. Its value determines first response of the reactor to any
change in either fuel temp. or reactor power.
For this reason,
is the most important temperature coefficient as far
as reactor safety is concerned.
Prompt temp. coeff. of most of the reactors is negative due to a
phenomenon called Nuclear Doppler Effect.
Although the moderator temp. coeff. is of less important as compared to
prompt. temp. coeff.,
determines ultimate behaviour of reactor in
response to any change in fuel temperature.
It is desirable to have negative value of
to ensure stability during
normal operation and during accident conditions.

Fission Product Poisoning

All fission product absorbs neutrons to some extent, and their accumulation
tend to reduce value of k. Since absorption cross-section rapidly decreases
with increasing energy, such fission product poisons are of greatest importance
in thermal reactors.
Only effect of presence of fission product poisons on the value of k is through
the thermal utilization. Thus reactivity equivalent of poisons in the reactor
which is previously critical is
In the absence of poisons, f0can be written as

With poisons f becomes,

Forpoisonedreactor

Fission Product Poisoning

The last equation can be written in a more convenient way by using
multiplication factor for unpoisoned reactor as follows:

Then,

becomes

This equation will be used for calculations of fission product poisoning.

Xenon - 135

Mostimportant
fissionproductpoison

Thermal absorption cross-section of 135Xe is 2.65 x 106 b, which is HUGE

and is non-1/v.

Since 135Te decays rapidly, it can be assumed that 135I is formed ONLY in
fission. All these isotopes have different effective yield which can be found
from tabulated data.
135
I concentration
Foriodine:
in atoms/cm3
Effective yield
(atoms per fission)

Forxenon:

Xenon - 135

Mostimportant
fissionproductpoison

Then the effective decay constant of 135Xe is

EquilibriumXenon
Since half-lives of iodine and xenon are so short that they quickly reach their
equilibrium values. These values can be found by setting time derivative to
zero.

Xenon - 135

Mostimportant
fissionproductpoison

Temp. dependent
parameter.
Value at 20 oC

Now reactivity equation becomes,

TWOCases:
(1)

(2)

Xenon - 135

Mostimportant
fissionproductpoison
Linearincrease
with
MaximumValue

In the case of a thermal reactor fueled ONLY with 235U, and no resonance
absorbers Maximum value of reactivity is:

which is about 4 dollars.

This is the maximum reactivity due to xenon equilibrium in 235U fueled
reactor.