A fuel pin sits in a thermal neutron flux

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Nuclear Physics · Fission, fusion and nuclear energy · Fission, fusion and nuclear energy

Energy from Physics, Ch The critical reactor: neutron diffusion, buckling and the size of a core

Problem

\phi = 5\times10^{13}\,\mathrm{cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}

. Its macroscopic fission cross section is

\Sigma_f = 0.35\,\mathrm{cm^{-1}}

. Taking the recoverable energy per fission as

E_f = 200\,\mathrm{MeV}

, compute the power density

q''' = E_f\Sigma_f\phi

in the fuel.