Test Plan for Godiva Move from LANL TA-18 to Nevada Test Site Device Assembly Facility

摘要

Godiva is an unshielded, pulsed nuclear reactor, used to produce bursts of neutrons and gamma rays for irradiating test samples. The Godiva reactor is part of the TA-18 Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Godiva reactor is to be moved to the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the Nevada Test Site, northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Bursts of ionizing radiation from Godiva have been found to produce radio waves and electrical interference in circuits and electrical equipment (e.g., alarm systems, interlocks, recording devices) near Godiva. Safety and security concerns regarding Godiva at the DAF are: 1. Can Godiva pulses induce detonators elsewhere in the DAF to explode. 2. What is the expected strength of the electrical signal from Godiva elsewhere in the DAF. 3. Will Godiva pulses trigger security alarms, requiring additional administrative controls. This report addresses these issues, and describes a brief set of electrical measurements intended to verify that electromagnetic emissions from Godiva are unchanged by its relocation, and below a threshold of safety for detonators that are outside the actual room Godiva resides in. The following points will be described: the nature of Godiva electrical emissions, predicted electric field at a given distance, electromagnetic frequency, safety threshold for detonators, recommended 'stay out' zone around Godiva for detonators, and recommended measurements to be made once Godiva has been installed at DAF.