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THEEFFECTIVEDECAYCONSTANTDIAGRAM
lastupdateAugust20,1997
Operationalreactorbehaviorisstronglyinfluencedbycertainfissionfragments,calledprecursor
atoms,whichintheprocessofradioactivedecayfollowingfission,emitaneutron.Becauseofthe
timedelayofprecursorneutronemissionaftertheactualfissionevent,ascomparedtothenear
instantaneouspromptneutronemission,theseneutronsarecalled"delayed"neutrons.Precursoratoms
areanimportantfactorinoperationalreactorbehaviorforthefollowingreasons:
Precursorsactasavariablestrengthneutronsourcethatallowsreactorpowertoberaisedto
ratedoutput.
Therateofprecursorsourcestrengthchangegovernstherateofreactorpowerchangewith
time.
ThermalneutronfissioningofU235nucleicreatesawidevarietyoffissionfragments.Ofthe60plus
fissionfragmentsformedfromfission,manyexhibitdecaythatproducesaneutronemission.For
mathematicalrepresentation,theseprecursorsarecoalescedviasimilardecayratesintosixprecursor
groups,wherethe(constant)propertiesofeachgrouparethenanaverageofitsconstituentprecursors.
PROPERTIESOFTHESIXPRECURSORGROUPS
Twopropertiesofprecursorsareofparamountimportancetoreactortransientbehavior,namelythe
fractionalyieldfromfissionofeachprecursorgroup,identifiedbytheGreekletterbeta,andthedecay
constantofeachprecursorgroup,identifiedbytheGreekletterlambda.ForthethermalfissionofU
235theseproperties,foreachofthesixprecursorgroups,aregiveninthefollowingtable.
YIELD
PRECURSOR
FRACTION
GROUP
(betai)
NUMBER
DECAY
CONSTANT
(lambdai)
MEAN
LIFE
(tmi)
sec
1
2
0.0002
0.0014
sec1
0.0127
0.0317
3
4
5
0.0012
0.0027
0.0008
0.116
0.331
1.4
8.6
3.0
0.71
0.0002
3.88
0.26
78.7
31.5
TABLE30.1PROPERTIESoftheSIXU235PRECURSORGROUPS
Thesubscript"i"providesthemeansforidentifyingtheparticularprecursorgroup.Theprecursor
meanlife,tmi,inthefourthcolumnisobtainedfromtherelationshiptmi=1/lambdai.Asix
precursorgroupmodeliscommonlyusedinfullscalesimulatorsandothercomputerprogramsto
simulateactualreactorbehavior.
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THESINGLEEFFECTIVEPRECURSORGROUP
Forthepurposeofcreatingasimplechainreactionmodelconducivetounderstandingreactor
behavior,itisusefultofurtherreducetheprecursorstoasinglegroup.However,inordertofitthe
combinedsixgroupbehavior,betaandlambdaofthesinglegroupcannotbothbeoffixedvalue.
Acceptedpracticeistouseaconstantprecursorfraction,beta,andanadjustable(effective)decay
constant,lambdaeff.
beta235=0.0065.............................(constant)
lambdaeff=0.0125to0.43sec1...(seeFigure30.1)
Thesubscript"eff"identifieslambdaasthesinglegroupdecayconstant.Thesesingleeffectivegroup
parametersarediscussedfurtherinthefollowingparagraphs.
PRECURSORPRODUCTION
Fromasetoffissions,thefractionofthetotalfissionneutronyieldheldintheformofprecursor
atomsisbeta,whichforU235is0.0065.Thisvalueisthesumofthesixgroupbetaivaluesin
columntwoofTable30.1.Theyieldfractiondiffersforotherfissionableisotopes.
30.1
THEPRECURSORYIELDFRACTION
where:
beta=thetotalprecursoryieldfractionforU235
precursoratoms=thenumberofprecursoratomsformedfromagivensetoffissionevents
promptneutrons=thenumberofpromptneutronsformedfromagivensetoffissionevents
Theaveragenumberofprecursoratomsproducedperfissionis:
30.2
where:
nud=theaveragenumberofprecursoratomsfromafissionevent
nu=theaveragenumberofpromptneutronsplusprecursoratomsfromafissionevent
Ofthetotal2.5promptneutronsplusprecursoratomsperfission,onlyabout0.02neutronsarecarried
byprecursorsformedattheinstantoffission.And,theproductionrateofprecursoratomsintheentire
coreis:
coreprecursorproductionrate=betaxcorefissionratexnud...(atoms/second)
PRECURSORLOSS
Followingfission,thedelayedneutronsaregraduallyreleasedfromprecursoratomsbyradioactive
decay.Theprecursordecayrateisdefinedbytheradioactive"decayconstant",as:
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30.3
THEPRECURSORDECAYCONSTANT
Thisdefinitionoftheprecursordecayconstantappliestothesixdelaygroupslistedincolumnthree
ofTable30.1.Eachofthesixprecursorgroupsexhibitsadifferentaveragerateofradioactivedecay,
withgrouponebeingslowestandgroupsixmostrapid.
Theactualvalueoflambdaeffectiveforasingleprecursorgroupmodelcanbecalculatedby
choosingasingledecayconstantthatoperatesonthetotalprecursorinventorytoproducearateof
decaythatisequaltotheactual(sixgroup)decayrate.Thus,theeffectivedecayconstantcanbe
derivedfrom:
30.4
THELAMBDAEFFECTIVECONCEPT
Which,ondividingbothsidesbyCtotalleadstoaconcentrationweightingofthedecayconstantsfor
thesixprecursorgroups,asfollows:
30.5
THESINGLEPRECURSORGROUPLAMBDAEFFECTIVE
FromEquation30.5itisobviousthatthevalueoflambdaeffectiveissimplyafunctionofthemixof
thesixprecursorgroups.Foraconstantoffcriticalreactivitycondition(astableperiod),the
concentrationsneededinEquation30.5foreachofthesixgroupscanbecalculatedfromthe
followingequation:
30.6
THETRANSIENTPRECURSORCONCENTRATION
where:
Cbari(t)=Ci(t)/(3.1x1010x2.5)
Ci(t)=thecoreithgroupprecursorconcentrationattimet,atoms
betai=theithgroupprecursoryieldfraction
P(t)=thereactorpowerattimet
T=thestablereactorperiod,seconds
lambdai=theithgroupprecursordecayconstant,seconds1
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NotethatEquation30.5,power,P(t),fromEquation30.6appearsinboththenumeratorandthe
denominator,therebycancelling.Thisisreasonablesinceonlytherelativeconcentrationsare
importantindetermininglambdaeffective.ForgeneratingthePrecursorDecayConstantDiagram,the
relationshipbetweenreactorperiodandreactivityisreadilyavailablefromthestablerateequation.
Applyinglambdaefftodeterminethelossrateofprecursoratomsintheentirecore,wehave:
coreprecursorlossrate=lambdaeffxcoreprecursorinventory...(atoms/second)
Ofcourse,thelossofeachprecursoratomresultsintheproductionofasingledelayedneutron.The
productionrateofdelayedneutrons(theprecursorsourcestrength)isequalinmagnitudetotheloss
rateofprecursoratoms.
THEPRECURSORDECAYCONSTANTDIAGRAM
Theprecursordecayconstantdiagram,Figure30.1,illustratesthedynamiccharacteroflambda
effectiveforexponentialpowerchangewithtime,asafunctionofthefuelstatus,expressedas
reactivity.
FIGURE30.1THELAMBDAEFFECTIVEDIAGRAM
Theverticalscaleislambdaeffinseconds1,extendingfrom0to0.5sec1.Thehorizontalscaleis
reactivity,extendingfrom0.0100to+0.0100.TheReactorTrainerusesEquation30.5tocalculate
thevalueoflambdaeffectiveforgraphicdisplayonthisdiagramduringtransientconditions.
However,TheTrainerdoesnotuselambdaeffectiveinitsneutronicscalculation,ratherthesix
precursorgroupsareused.
TheSshapedreferencelambdaeffcurveshownonFigure30.1reflectsthedifferingmixinprecursor
inventorywiththerateofpowerchange.Thesmallerthedecayconstant,theslowertheprecursor
decay.Thelargerthedecayconstant,themorerapidtheprecursordecay.Thereferencecurve,
extendingfromthelowerleftcornertotheupperrightcornerofthediagramrepresentsthelocusof
lambdaeffectivevaluesforexponentialpowerchangeresultingfromaconstantoffcriticalreactivity
condition.Observethat:
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1. Atcriticality:thelambdaeffvalueisapproximately0.08sec1.
2. Subcritical:asthemagnitudeofthenegativereactivityincreases,thevalueoflambdaeff
decreasestowardalimitof0.0127sec1.Thelimitarisesbecausewhenfarsubcriticalallgroups
decayawaytoinsignificanceexceptfortheslowestdecayingprecursorgroup,whichhasa
decayconstantof0.0127sec1.Themixofprecursorsdegeneratestoasinglegroup.
3. Supercritical:asthemagnitudeofthepositivereactivityincreases,thevalueoflambdaeff
increasestoalimitof0.43sec1.Thelimitarisesbecausewhenfarsupercriticalthepoweris
risingsorapidlythattheonlyprecursorsofsignificancearethosejustproducedintheprevious
instant.ThemixofprecursorsisequaltothatgivenbythebetaivaluesinTable30.1.
Theyellowhorizontallineat0.08seconds1,extendingfromrho=0.0100tocriticalityisthe
lambdaeffectivecurveforallequilibriumsubcriticalmultiplicationconditions.Ifthereactoris
subcriticalandpowerdecaystolowlevelswherethenonfissionsourcebecomessignificantthen
lambdaeffectivewillmovetowardthisline.
Figure30.2illustratesanactualtrackoflambdaeffectiveduringtransientconditions,i.e.while
reactivityischangingwithtime.
FIGURE30.2TRANSIENTLAMBDAEFFECTIVEBEHAVIOR
Thesequenceofeventsisasfollows:
1. Startingatcriticality,acontinuousreactivityrampoutisinitiated.Thetrackofthetransient
lambdaeffectivefallsbelowthereferencecurvebecausepowerisbeingforcedhigherby
increasingreactivity,whichtendstoraisethelagginglonglifeprecursorstogreater
concentrationsthanduringexponentialincrease.Agreaternumberofslowdecayingprecursors
inthemixdecreasesthevalueoflambdaeffective.Theprecursormixischangingcontinuously
duringrampout,whichaccountsfortheongoingchangeinlambdaeffective.
2. Onterminatingthereactivityrampatareactivityof+0.0045,lambdaeffectivemovesvertically
upwardtothereferencecurveforexponentialpowerchange.Withconstantreactivity,the
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precursormixcontinuestorealignuntilattainingexponentialpowerincreasewithtime.
3. Fromthesupercriticalconditionofrho=+0.0045,acontinuousreactivityrampinis
initiated.Thetrackofthetransientlambdaeffectivefallsabovethereferencecurvebecause
powerisbeingforcedlowerbydecreasingreactivity,whichtendstoreducethelagginglong
lifeprecursorstolowerconcentrationsthanduringexponentialdecrease.Fewerslowdecaying
precursorsinthemixincreasesthevalueoflambdaeffective.Theprecursormixischanging
continuouslyduringrampin,whichaccountsfortheongoingchangeinlambdaeffective.
4. Onterminatingthereactivityrampatareactivityof0.0045,lambdaeffectivemovesvertically
downwardtothereferencecurveforexponentialpowerchange.Withconstantreactivity,the
precursormixcontinuestorealignuntilattainingexponentialpowerdecreasewithtime.
5. Fromthesubcriticalconditionofrho=0.0045,ashortrampouttorho=0.0035ismade.The
purposeofthisreacivitychangeismerelytoshiftthetracksoasubsequentlambdaeffective
increasewillbevisibleandnotoverlaythepreviousdecrease.
6. Withreactivityconstantatrho=0.0035,thecontinuingpowerdecreasereachesalevelwhere
thenonfissionsourcebecomessignificant,andasthepowerlevelstoequilibriumsubcritical
multiplicationcondition,thelambdaeffectivetrackmovesverticallytothehorizontalyellow
referenceline.
TheLambdaEffectivegraphicsweregeneratedonTHEREACTORTRAINER.
THERULEofTHUMBforLAMBDAEFFECTIVE
Inreactoroperatortrainingprograms,thevariabilityofthedecayconstantduringtransientsis
commonlysimplifiedbyaruleofthumb.Forcriticalityandoperationaloffcriticaltransients,the
ruleofthumbvaluesforlambdaeffectiveare:
supercriticality.....lambdaeff=0.1seconds1
criticality..............lambdaeff=0.08seconds1
subcriticality........lambdaeff=0.05seconds1
Forreactortransientsthataresubstantiallysubcritical,suchasfollowingreactorscram,theruleof
thumbmayrecommendusing....lambdaeff=0.0127seconds1
Theruleofthumbisanapproximationoftheactuallambdaeffectivevalue.Oncomparingtherule
ofthumbvalueswiththereferencecurveonTheLambdaEffectiveDiagram,Figure30.1,itcanbe
seenthatfortheconditionsspecified,thevaluesarereasonable.Theruleofthumbprovidesthe
studentwithaconvenientmeansforperformingsimplecalculationsinvolvingreactorrate.
SUMMARY
Theprecursoratomsareimportanttoreactortransientbehaviorbecausetheprecusorsactasavariable
neutronsourcewhichgovernstherateofpowerchangewithtime.Whenusingasingleprecursor
groupmodel,conventionistoemployaconstantprecursoryieldfractionandavariableprecursor
decayrate,asdefinedbylambdaeff.Thelambdaeffvaluemaybeobtainedbyusingtheruleofthumb,
orifmorepreciseresultsaredesired,byreadingavalueoflambdaefffromthereferencecurveonThe
LambdaEffectiveDiagram,fortheappropriatereactivitycondition.
Thestudentshouldbeawarethatthesinglegroupprecursordecayconstantis,inreality,nota
constant,butratheradynamicpropertythatdependsonthemixofprecursoratomsresultingfromthe
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rateanddirectionofpowerchange.
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