Abstract
The effect of in-pile irradiation on fissile and non-fissile materials is discussed briefly, distinction being drawn between the effects of neutrons, β particles and γ rays. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the design of experimental equipment needed to investigate these effects. The eight phases of an irradiation experiment are discussed and attention is drawn to the importance of the initial specifications. Methods for determining the fluxes and heat generation in test rigs are given. Five experiments are described in some detail. The description of the carbon dioxide semi-static experiment gives a method of controlling the non-fissile specimen temperature in-pile. The graphite-carbon dioxide dynamic mass transfer experiment is designed to investigate the transfer mechanism in graphite-moderated carbon-dioxide-cooled reactors. The liquid metal mass transfer experiment poses special problems of safety. The description of the water-cooled fuel specimen experiment shows how the temperature of the specimen is maintained constant even during pile shut-down. The advanced gas-cooled reactor (A.G.R.) fuel cluster experiment is described to show the difficulty of simulating operating reactor conditions in a materials-testing reactor. The paper is concluded by a brief reference to the philosophy or thinking of irradiation experiments.
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