1.

Nuclear Fission

Jonghwa Chang
jhchang@kaeri.re.kr
Fissionbarrier

Fissile : U-235, U-233, Pu-239 Natural abundancy

U-235 + n fission Uranium : 0.72% U-235, rem. U-238
Fertile : Th-232, U-238
Thorium : 100% Th-232

(22.3 m ) 233 (27 d ) 233

232
Th n 233 Th Pa U

(23.5 m ) 239 (2.36 d ) 239

2
238
U n 239 U Np Pu
Z1Z 2 e
Ec
4 0 R1 R2

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Fissionprocess

ref) D.G.Madland, Nuclear Physics A 772(2006) 113-137 2

Averagenumberofpromptneutron

v 2.8807 0.14E(MeV )
v 2.4367 0.14 E ( MeV )

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Averagetotalpromptfissionneutronenergy

= 4.838 + 0.3004En
= 4.558 + 0.3070En
= 6.128 + 0.3428En

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Promptneutronspectrum
Maxwllian spectrum E Ee E /TM Madland and Nix spectrum

Watt spectrum E e E / a sinh bE

235U

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Wattspectrum

P E 0.4865sinh
2 E e E

Flux distribution
flux = speed x number density
2E
E PE
mn

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Massdistributionoffissionproducts
Fission products : ~ 1,000 nuclides

yield fraction

Mass number (A)

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 0.08% 0.54% 1.62% 0.72% 0.07%

Decaychain 103
Y
39
0.23s 103
Zr 1.3s 103
Nb 1.5s 103
Mo 67.5s 103
Tc 54.2s 103
Ru 39.3d 103
45 Rh
(8%)
0.26% 2.08% 0.39% 0.32%

102 0.30s 102 2.9s 102 21.3s 102 11.3m 102 5.28s 102
Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru
(4.9%)
0.40% 2.64% 1.88% 0.15%
101 0.45s 101 2.3s 101 7.1s 101 14.6m 101 14.2m 101
Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru
0.13% (1.9%) 5.80%
5.24% 0.99% fission
0.01%
100
Y 735ms 100
Zr 7.1s 100
Nb 1.5s 100
Mo yield
(0.9%)
n
- direct yield
- accumulated yield

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Kineticenergyoffissionproduct

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Gammaraysfromfission

ref) T.E. Valentine, ORN:/TM-1999/3000.

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Promptgamma

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Promptfissionenergy(n+FP+ )

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Delayedemission
Fission products are neutron-rich, under going beta decay
n p e e
~1/3 energy is carried by beta ray(electron)
remaining energy by neutrino

beta spectrum

decay scheme

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Delayedneutronemission
normailized to
2 per per fission
fission yield : ~2%

2.78MeV

6.83MeV
(76.3m)
branch ratio : 2.52% branch ratio : 97.48%

3.887MeV (4.75x1010y)

2.55MeV

0.282MeV

(stable)

95
(90%) Rb 95
Sr (91.37%)
139
I 139
Xe 0.3775s
fission yield:
2.28s
fission yield: n
n
~1% 138
Xe branch ratio : 10% ~0.8% 94
Sr branch ratio : 8.73%
0.3775 s
2.28 s

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Delayedneutrongroup
Delayed neutron is important
~200 delayed neutron precursors
- to control chain reaction
for analysis
- power rise : fast component
- merge to 6 groups
- power down : slow component

139I 93Rb

88Br

91Br

87Br

96Rb

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Sixgroupdelayedneutronparameters

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Spectrumofdelayedneutron

average ~500 keV

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Decayheat
- Heat generated by decay (beta, gamma) of Fission products and Minor actinides
- more than 1,000 fission products

U-235 thermal pulse

ref) M. Fleming, CCFE-R(15)28, 2015

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Evolutionofdecayheatproduction

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Decayheat

Important nuclides for decay heat

Ni-68~71, Cu-69~71, Zn-70~71, Kr-97,
Rb-89~91,-93, Sr-93~95, Y-94~95, Kr-97,
Cs-138~141, Ba-141~145, La-142~145,
Ce-145~148, Pr-146~149,-151,
Nd-149,-151,-153~155, Pm-152~157,
Sm-157,-158, Eu-158, etc.

Concentration of F.P. nuclides

decay chain equation
N i t i N i j N j i f t

beta(gamma) heating
h t Ei i N i t

burst function
b t t h t

decay heat evolution is important for safety after shutdown and long term waste disposal

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Decayheatburstfunction

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Betadecayheatdependsonirradiationtime

Short half life FP decays (equillibrium)

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Betadecayheatafter100,000sirradiation

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Gammadecayheat

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Decayheat
Decay heat power
- Heat generated by decay (beta, gamma)
- Too many fission products ( ~ 1,000 nuclides)

ANSI/ANS-5.1 : decay heat power standards

1971 :
1979 :
1994 : 23 group model
2015:

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ANSI/ANS-5.1-2005
ORIGEN-S [ENDF/B-6 library, ORNL/TM-2003/118]

ref) Gauld, 2006.

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 Decay heat data is
important for safety
analysis
such as LOCA

Important for LWR

- U-235 thermal
- U-238 fast
- Pu-239 thermal

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Summaryoffissionpower
U235 Pu239
kineticenergyoffissionfragments :169.13MeV 175.55MeV
kineticenergyofpromptneutrons :4.92MeV 6.07MeV
kineticenergyofdelayedneutrons :0.0074MeV 0.003MeV
Promptgamma: 6.60MeV 6.74MeV
Delayedgamma: 6.33MeV 5.17MeV
Delayedbeta: 6.50MeV 5.31MeV
recoverableenergy 193.48MeV 198.84MeV
Neutrinos: 8.75MeV 7.14MeV
totalfissionenergy 202.23MeV 210MeV

Numberofneutronsperfission 2.44 2.88

averageenergyofneutron 4.84MeV 6.13MeV
Numberofphotonsperfission 6.53 6.78
averageenergyofphoton 0.97MeV 0.95MeV

Fission product average energy : ~98 MeV, Z : ~38, N:~56 can damage fuel, cladding

Stopping range of F.P. in UO2 : ~9m

Stopping range of 1 MeV beta in UO2 : ~ 0.08cm
some times important
gamma attenuation : 1 MeV in UO2 : 0.77/cm = half intensity 0.9cm (gamma redistribution)
in water : 0.0707/cm = half intensity 9.8 cm

fission neutron mean free path : 1 MeV in UO2 : ~ 1.9cm thermal energy in UO2: ~0.072 cm
in water : ~ 1.87cm in water: ~0.66cm

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