Fast shutter for low background radiation environments at SPR III

Author

Kelly, John G. ; Sites, Kenneth R. ; Scott, William H.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA

Volume

41

Issue

6

fYear

1994

Firstpage

2125

Lastpage

2131

Abstract

A fast shutter system has been developed to isolate experiments from the radiation emitted after the main pulse of the Sandia Pulsed Reactor, SPR III. In about 15 ms the system moves a 20 kg shield in front of the beam port aperture in the facility shield wall. A second gravity-driven shutter is dropped into place in about 200 ms. The total attenuation achieved in the delayed beam intensity is about a factor of one hundred. The shutter assembly was used, along with a sensitive detection system, to observe the gamma ray flux emitted by various materials activated by the neutron beam at levels nine orders of magnitude smaller than the gamma dose rate at the target during the reactor pulse.<>

Keywords

dosimetry; fission research reactors; gamma-ray detection; neutron activation analysis; neutron flux; radiation protection; safety systems; shielding; SPR III; Sandia Pulsed Reactor; attenuation; fast shutter system; gamma ray flux; gravity-driven shutter; low background radiation environments; materials; shield; Apertures; Attenuation; Delay; Inductors; Laboratories; Neutrons; Pulse measurements; Radiation monitoring; Scattering; System testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.340552

Filename

340552