Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering

Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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Nuclear Physics

Exam

Professor: Victor Roshchenko

Student: Lilian Harumi Yoshida

Brazil - Russia
October 2021

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Nuclear Physics 1
 Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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1. Discuss the following topics

a. Nuclear mass defect. Excess mass of an atom. (Nº 18)
b. The role of delayed neutrons in the control of the fission chain reaction.
(Nº 49)

Nuclear Mass Defect and Excess Mass of an Atom

U.S. Department of Energy. Doe Fundamentals Handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor
Theory. Volume 1 of 2. Washington, DC.

On a nuclear level, it’s possible to convert between mass and energy. So,
instead of a law of conservation of mass and another law for energy, the sum of
mass and energy is conserved. That means that a decrease in energy will be
accompanied by an increase in mass and vice versa.
Through precise measurements it was discovered that the mass of the sum of
constituents of the atom (protons, neutrons, electrons) is always slightly bigger than
the mass of the atom itself. The difference is the mass defect and ca be calculated
by
∆𝑚 = [ 𝑍(𝑚𝑝 + 𝑚𝑒) + (𝐴 − 𝑍)𝑚𝑛 ] − 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚

The value of the masses are given by 𝑚𝑝 = 1. 007277 𝑎𝑚𝑢,

𝑚𝑛 = 1. 008665 𝑎𝑚𝑢 and 𝑚𝑒 = 0. 000548597 𝑎𝑚𝑢. Since the mass defect is small
compared to the mass of the atom, don’t ever round the masses or the calculation is
going to be wrongly equal to zero.
The mass defect occurs due to the formation of the nucleus. During that
process, some mass is converted into binding energy. By definition, binding energy
is the amount of energy necessary to a nucleus completely separate its nucleons or
the energy that would be released if the nucleus was formed from separate
nucleons.
Thus, there exists a correlation between binding energy and mass defect.
They’re equivalent, and it’s possible to obtain one from another by a conversion
factor. Here it’s used the Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to relate mass and energy
2
𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐

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Nuclear Physics 2
 Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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From that relation it’s obtained a conversion factor of 931.5 MeV and binding
energy e mass defect can be related by
𝐵𝐸 = ∆𝑚 (931. 5𝑀𝑒𝑉/1 𝑎𝑚𝑢)
In conclusion, the excess mass of each nucleon separated turns into binding
energy that holds the atom together.

The Role of Delayed Neutrons in the Control of the Fission Chain

Reaction
REUSS, Paul. Neutron Physics. France: EDP Sciences.

Delayed neutrons play an essential role in reactor kinetics even though they
make up only a small proportion of the neutrons emitted (0.7% for induced fission in
uranium 235 and 0.2% in plutonium 239). The delay between fission and the
emission of these neutrons can be between a second and a minute, which is a very
long time compared to the life of a neutron, measured in microseconds.
The delay occurs because of a beta-minus decay of a fission fragment,
followed by a neutron emission. That happens if the nucleus resulting from the beta
decay has an excitations energy greater than the separation energy of a neutron.
Delayed neutrons are emitted at slightly lower energy (0.2 to 0.6 MeV) than prompt
neutrons (about 2 MeV).
If delayed neutrons were not considered, it wouldn't be possible to monitor
and regulate a chain reaction. Picture that fictional scenario: In some reactor 40,000
generations pass in one second and consider that k value is 0.01%. Knowing the
𝑛
neutron population is multiplied by 𝑘 after n generations, the population would be
multiplied by 55 if the difference is positive and by 0.018 if the difference is negative.
Either the population exponentially grows in one second, or reduces to near zero.
Using a different approach, considering chain reactions to calculate the
number of neutrons as a function of time t, the equation that follows it’s found:
𝑛(𝑡) = 𝑛(0)𝑒𝑥𝑝((𝑘 − 1)𝑡/θ)
Using the same numbers of the previous approach, the conclusion is the
same.
Introducing reactivity ρ in the calculation, there is another relation to n(t).
𝑛(𝑡) = 𝑛(0)𝑒𝑥𝑝(ρ𝑡/𝑙)

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Nuclear Physics 3
 Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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where 𝑙 is the neutron lifetime in a critical reactor.

To introduce delayed neutrons in the analysis, it’s needed more two nuclear
parameters: the proportion β𝑖 of delayed neutrons compared to all neutrons emitted
by fission expressed in pcm; and the radioactive decay constant λ𝑖 of the precursor.
The precursor is the beta decay that leads the nucleus to emit the neutron.
That said, let’s take into account delayed neutrons in the mean generation
time calculation. For that, it’s just replace 𝑙 by τ𝑖 + 𝑙.

𝑙 = (1 − β) × 𝑙 + ∑ β𝑖 × (τ𝑖 + 𝑙) = 𝑙 + βτ
𝑖

where τ𝑖 = 1/λ𝑖 is the mean lifetime.

To illustrate the difference of take delayed neutrons into account,

235 −5 −5 −5
𝑙( 𝑈) = 2. 5 × 10 𝑠 and 𝑙 = 2. 5 × 10 + 679 × 10 × 11. 31 = 0. 077 𝑠.
While have 40,000 generations per second for 𝑙, it’s only 13 effective generations
per second for 𝑙. When the same multiplication factor of 0.01% is used, the power
does not evolve by a factor of 55 anymore, but only 1/10 of a percent.
The huge difference in the kinetic behavior of the reactor makes it easy to
control.
To achieve a more accurate model, let’s use the chain reaction equations. For
the neutron it’s necessary to make a distinction between the direct channel for the
proportion 1 − β of neutrons produced and the delayed channel resulting from
radioactive decay and expressed by λ𝑐 term. The term 𝑐𝑖 represents the number of
precursor nuclei in group i.

𝑑𝑛/𝑑𝑡 = ((ρ − β)/𝑙)𝑛 + ∑ λ𝑖𝑐𝑖

𝑖

𝑑𝑐𝑖/𝑑𝑡 = (β𝑖/𝑙)𝑛 − λ𝑖𝑐𝑖

The inhour equation gives the reactivity expressed in inverse hour, as follows

ρ = ω[𝑙 + ∑ β𝑖/(λ𝑖 + ω)]

𝑖

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Nuclear Physics 4
 Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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Examples
In an emergency shutdown, a strong anti reactivity is inserted very quickly
to halt the chain reaction. That is done with a set of highly absorbent rods. Consider
an instantaneously inserted negative reactivity ρ and the slow kinetic model, that
gives the rate of absorption α and the rate of precursor nuclei 𝑑𝑐𝑖/𝑑𝑡 by

α = (∑ λ𝑖𝑐𝑖)/(β − ρ)
𝑖

𝑑𝑐𝑖/𝑑𝑡 = β𝑖α − λ𝑖𝑐𝑖.

With a time constant ω of the order of (ρ − β)/𝑙 the power falls by a factor of
β/(β − ρ), if we refer to the inhour equation. It continues to fall according to the g
exponential modes, and finally according to the slowest one, with a time constant of
the order of − λ1, or approximately a factor of 2 in 55 seconds.

To change the power level of the reactor, it’s just inserting a modest
positive reactivity to increase the power or a negative to reduce it. That don’t happen
in practice, but it’s possible to assume a instantaneous insertion of a reactivity ρ,

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Nuclear Physics 5
 Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN

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kept constant during a certain time T and followed by an instantaneous return to

zero reactivity.
When the reactivity it’s inserted, the power varies by a factor of β/(β − ρ).
The factor it’s greater than 1 if the reactivity introduced is positive and less than 1 if it
is negative. Then it changes according to the g main exponential modes. As soon as
the reactivity vanishes, a sharp change by the inverse factor occurs, followed by a
more gradual convergence to the asymptote.

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Nuclear Physics 6