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Neutron flux in asymptotic giant branch stars and in supernovae is responsible for most of the natural nucleosynthesis producing elements heavier than iron.In stars there is a relatively low neutron flux on the order of 10 5 to 10 11 cm −2 s −1, resulting in nucleosynthesis by the s-process (slow neutron-capture process).
k eff = 1, critical: the neutron density remains unchanged; and; k eff > 1, supercritical: the neutron density is increasing with time. In the case of a nuclear reactor, neutron flux and power density are proportional, hence during reactor start-up k eff > 1, during reactor operation k eff = 1 and k eff < 1 at reactor shutdown.
The neutron flux from such a reactor is in the order of 10 12 neutrons cm −2 s −1. [1] The type of neutrons generated are of relatively low kinetic energy (KE), typically less than 0.5 eV. These neutrons are termed thermal neutrons. Upon irradiation, a thermal neutron interacts with the target nucleus via a non-elastic collision, causing ...
during the spin-down of a neutron star; when cosmic rays or accelerated particle beams strike atoms; The majority of neutrinos which are detected about the Earth are from nuclear reactions inside the Sun. At the surface of the Earth, the flux is about 65 billion (6.5 × 10 10) solar neutrinos, per second per square centimeter.
The neutron energy peaks at around 1 MeV and rapidly drops above. At sea level, the production of neutrons is about 20 neutrons per second per kilogram of material interacting with the cosmic rays (or, about 100–300 neutrons per square meter per second). The flux is dependent on geomagnetic latitude, with a maximum near the magnetic poles.
The mere fact that an assembly is supercritical does not guarantee that it contains any free neutrons at all. At least one neutron is required to "strike" a chain reaction, and if the spontaneous fission rate is sufficiently low it may take a long time (in 235 U reactors, as long as many minutes) before a chance neutron encounter starts a chain reaction even if the reactor is supercritical.
Neutron radiation is a form of ionizing radiation that presents as free neutrons.Typical phenomena are nuclear fission or nuclear fusion causing the release of free neutrons, which then react with nuclei of other atoms to form new nuclides—which, in turn, may trigger further neutron radiation.
Some isotopes undergo spontaneous fission (SF) with emission of neutrons.The most common spontaneous fission source is the isotope californium-252. 252 Cf and all other SF neutron sources are made by irradiating uranium or a transuranic element in a nuclear reactor, where neutrons are absorbed in the starting material and its subsequent reaction products, transmuting the starting material into ...