Intracell activity distributions were measured in three natural uranium, heavy water lattices of 1. 010 inch diameter, aluminum clad rods on triangular spacings of 4. 5 inches, 5. 0 inches, and 5. 75 inches, respectively, and in a uranium, heavy water lattice of 0. 25 inch diameter, 1. 03% U 2235, aluminum-clad rods on a triangular spacing of 1. 25 inches. The distributions were measured with bare and cadmium-covered foils of gold, lutetium, and europium. The gold was used as a 1/v absorber to measure the thermal neutron density distribution. Because the activation cross sections of lutetium and europium depart considerably from 1/v behavior, their activation depends strongly on the thermal neutron energy spectrum. Hence, they were used to make integral measurements of the change in the neutron energy spectrum with position in the lattice cell. A method was developed for treating the partial absorption, by cadmium covers, of neutrons at the 0.
展开▼