Neutrons propagation in Lead: A feasibility study for experiments in the RSV TAPIRO fast research reactor

Abstract

The increasing worldwide interest in Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs) substantiates the need to validate the analytical codes and methods used to support their design. For neutronic analyses, this is chiefly reflected in assessing the impact of nuclear data uncertainties on the integral and local parameters resulting from such analyses. The aim of refining nuclear data moves continuous efforts for more accurate measurements, be them differential or integral, for which adequate facilities are required. The availability at the ENEA's Casaccia research center of a fast source reactor – RSV TAPIRO – provides a unique opportunity to perform new integral experiments in support of fast reactors, including LFRs, owing to the well-characterized neutron spectrum of the thermal column. A series of experiments has been envisaged, dealing with the use of Lead in a reactor. The experiments concern the propagation of neutrons through blocks of materials representing relevant elements of a reactor core, and ranging from pure Lead to mixtures reproducing portions of the reflector and shield in LFRs. The paper is focused on the feasibility study of some of these experiments in which Lead and mixture blocks are inserted in the so-called thermal column of the RSV TAPIRO reactor and irradiated by the neutron flux emerging from the Copper reflector surrounding the reactor core.