Experimental benchmarks on kinetic parameters in accelerator-driven system with 100 MeV protons at Kyoto University Critical Assembly

Accelerator-driven system experiments with spallation neutrons (100 MeV protons and Pb-Bi target) are carried out in the U-235-fueled and Pb-Bi-zoned core at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly, under a subcritical state ranging between 1160 and 11,556 pcm. In these experiments, measurement of the prompt neutron decay constant and the subcriticality is conducted by the pulsed neutron source (PNS) method and the Feynman-alpha method with the use of optical fiber detectors. The experimental results successfully validate the prompt neutron decay constant and the subcriticality through the deduction of kinetic parameters by both the PNS and the a-fitting methods. The detector position dependency, neutron spectrum and subcriticality measurement methods still remain, however, in these experiments. For onward studies, the experimental benchmarks obtained from these experiments are expected to be involved in the numerical verification of subcriticality on-line monitoring, in the analysis of subcriticality uncertainty and in the deterministic approach to kinetic parameters. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.