Name: Anonymous 2011-09-29 19:11
Any nuclear engineer wants to solve this amazing problem?
How would big would be a spherical heterogeneous reactor of only natural uranium, beryllium and light water optimized for minimum mass of uranium?
Of course it would be maximally reflected with light water outside.
I suspect it would be a configuration of alternating shells of uranium-beryllium-water-beryllium-uranium like an onion.
The shells' thickness would scale to:
"Burn-Up Profiles for a New Beryllium Moderated Water Cooled Natural Uranium Reactor":
>The previous work done on this reactor concept (Hayes 2006) began with noting that for infinite repeating slab geometries, Be and NU had a maximum reactivity (kinf=1.08) at about 16 cm Be and 0.6 cm NU. Similarly, light water layers with NU had regions of maximum reactivity (kinf=0.97) at 1 cm NU and 1.6 cm H2O.
How would big would be a spherical heterogeneous reactor of only natural uranium, beryllium and light water optimized for minimum mass of uranium?
Of course it would be maximally reflected with light water outside.
I suspect it would be a configuration of alternating shells of uranium-beryllium-water-beryllium-uranium like an onion.
The shells' thickness would scale to:
"Burn-Up Profiles for a New Beryllium Moderated Water Cooled Natural Uranium Reactor":
>The previous work done on this reactor concept (Hayes 2006) began with noting that for infinite repeating slab geometries, Be and NU had a maximum reactivity (kinf=1.08) at about 16 cm Be and 0.6 cm NU. Similarly, light water layers with NU had regions of maximum reactivity (kinf=0.97) at 1 cm NU and 1.6 cm H2O.