dc.contributor.advisor | Kord Smith. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Gale, Micah D. (Micah David) | en_US |
dc.contributor.other | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-11-15T15:52:12Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-11-15T15:52:12Z | |
dc.date.copyright | 2018 | en_US |
dc.date.issued | 2018 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119041 | |
dc.description | Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2018. | en_US |
dc.description | This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. | en_US |
dc.description | Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. | en_US |
dc.description | Includes bibliographical references (pages 39-40). | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Reactor Physics is not always an intuitive subject for students to understand. When nuclear engineering was beginning as a field it was common for students to complete measurements on sub-critical reactors, which could not sustain a fission chain reaction, in order to develop student intuition. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has one such reactor, a graphite exponential pile, which went unused for decades. In this thesis the MIT Graphite Exponential Pile was returned to experimental operation, and a prototypic student experiment was completed. The material buckling was found by indium foil activations completed with a plutonium-beryllium source in the pile. From the experimental results it was calculated the pile would have to be a cube with sides that are 5.42m long to become a critical reactor. This proof of concept experiment makes it possible for mens et manus based education at MIT for reactor physics. | en_US |
dc.description.statementofresponsibility | by Micah D. Gale. | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 117 pages | en_US |
dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
dc.publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | en_US |
dc.rights | MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. | en_US |
dc.rights.uri | http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 | en_US |
dc.subject | Nuclear Science and Engineering. | en_US |
dc.title | Developing modern graphite exponential pile experiments to augment reactor physics education | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
dc.description.degree | S.B. | en_US |
dc.contributor.department | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering | |
dc.identifier.oclc | 1059517045 | en_US |