Assessment of N-16 activity concentration in Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission TRIGA Research Reactor

Abstract

An assessment for determining N-16 activity concentrations during the operation condition of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission TRIGA Research Reactor was performed employing several governing equations. The radionuclide N-16 is a high energy (6.13 MeV) gamma emitter which is predominately created by the fast neutron interaction with O-16 present in the reactor core water. During reactor operation at different power level, the concentration of N-16 at the reactor bay region may increase causing radiation risk to the reactor operating personnel or the general public. Concerning the safety of the research reactor, the present study deals with the estimation of N-16 activity concentrations in the regions of reactor core, reactor tank, and reactor bay at different reactor power levels under natural convection cooling mode. The estimated N-16 activity concentration values with 500 kW reactor power at the reactor core region was 7.40×105Bq/cm3 and at the bay region was 3.39×10−5Bq/cm3. At 3 MW reactor power with active forced convection cooling mode, the N-16 activity concentration in the decay tank exit water was also determined, and the value was 4.14×10−1Bq/cm3.

Keywords

• Activity Concentration
• Cooling Mode
• N-16
• Radiological Safety
• TRIGA Research Reactor