DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTANT TEMPERATURE NUCLEAR POWERSENSOR

摘要

A unique type of nuclear instrument that measures the total amount of depositedrnnuclear power has been developed and tested. This constant temperature power sensorrn(or CTPS) works by controlling a resistive device in thermal contact with a uranium fuelrnpellet. The measure produced by this system is deposited nuclear power rather than arnmore classic quantity such as neutron flux. The CTPS, which has been undergoingrndevelopment including computer modeling and bench testing, is now being evaluated inrnreactor. The objective is to determine whether the prototypes built for testing are capablernof performing as well as they have been modeled and designed to. To test the CTPSrnsensors, they have been placed in the high temperature neutron flux oscillator facility atrnthe Ohio State University reactor lab. This facility allows the determination of sensorrnlinearity and sensitivity as well as a deterministic measure of sensor bandwidth. Resultsrnprove that the sensors are very linear and sufficiently sensitive to compare with otherrnmodern detectors. Results show the sensors to have bandwidth that compares with that ofrnthe earlier modeling. Thermal drift correction for which dynamic calibration capabilitiesrnwould be ideal was demonstrated as necessary for this detector system. Many rounds ofrntesting have given consistent results that demonstrate the sensor works as hoped.