Displacement damage cross section and mechanical properties calculation of an Es-Salam research reactor aluminum vessel

Nuclear facility aging is one of the biggest problems encountered in nuclear engineering. Radiation damage is among one of the aging causes. This kind of damage is an important factor of mechanical properties deterioration. The interest of this study is on the Es-Salam research reactor aluminum vessel aging due to neutron radiation. Monte Carlo(MC) simulations were performed by MCNP6 and SRIM codes to estimate the defects created by neutrons in the vessel. MC simulations by MCNP6 have been performed to determine the distribution of neutron fluence and primary knock-on atom(PKA) creation. Considering our boundary conditions of the calculations, the helium and hydrogen gas production in the model at a normalized total neutron flux of 6.62×10^(12) n/cm^2 s were determined to be 2.86 × 10~8 and 1.33 × 10~9 atoms/cm^3 s,respectively. The SRIM code was used for the simulation of defects creation(vacancies, voids) in the aluminum alloy of the Es-Salam vessel(EsAl) by helium and hydrogen with an approximate energy of 11 MeV each.The coupling between the two codes is based upon postprocessing of the particle track(PTRAC) output file generated by the MCNP6. A small program based on the Mat Lab language is performed to condition the output file MCNP6 in the format of a SRIM input file. The concentration of silicon was determined for the vessel by the calculation of the total rate of ^(27)Al(n,γ)^(28)Si reaction. The DPA(displacement per atom) was calculated in SRIM according to R.E. Stoller recommendations; the calculated value is 0.02 at a fast neutron fluence 1.89 × 10^(19) n/cm^2.RCC-MRx standard for 6061-T6 aluminum was used for the simulation of the evolution of mechanical properties for high fluence. The calculated values of nuclear parameters and DPA obtained were in agreement with the experimental results from the Oak Ridge High Flux Isotope Reactor(HFIR) reported by Farrell and coworkers.

Structural, Optical and Luminescence Properties of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Method： Effect of Precursor Concentration

Transparent zinc oxide（ZnO） thin films are fabricated by a simple sol-gel spin-coating technique on glass substrates with different solution concentrations（0.3-1.2 M） using zinc acetate dehydrate [Zn（CH_3COO）_2·2H_2O] as precursor and isopropanol and monoethanolamine（MEA） as solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The molar ratio of zinc acetate dehydrate to MEA is 1.0. X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy are employed to investigate the effect of solution concentration on the structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films. The obtained results of all thin films are discussed in detail and are compared with other experimental data.

Study of Oxidation Kinetics in Air of Zircaloy-4 by <i>in Situ</i>X-Ray Diffraction

The zircaloy-4 is an alloy of zirconium, which has a very weak thermal neutron absorption, satisfactory mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance at high temperature. For these reasons, zircaloy-4 is used as a material of cladding fuel rod of nuclear reactors. In this environment, it is submitted to different severe conditions of temperature and pressure. The objective of this work is to study the oxidation kinetics of zircaloy-4 in air by the X-ray diffraction technique. The experiments were realized in a “HTK1200” furnace installed as a sample holder in the diffractometer at different temperatures;25°C, 350°C, 500°C, 830°C and 1000°C. The results show that the monoclinic and the tetragonal phases are formed at 350°C temperature. The volume fraction of these phases increased with the temperature until 1000°C where the α phase disappears completely. For simulating the case of loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA), we have done x-ray diffraction of Zry-4 samples water quenched at 1050°C with different ageing times at this temperature. At 10 seconds and more, there is an important evolution of monoclinic and tetragonal zirconias, which leads to the degradation of zircaloy-4 properties.

Seasonal variation of selected trace elements in rare endemic species Thuriferous Juniper growing in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria

We used energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence（EDXRF） to determine the seasonal variation of selected trace elements（Cr, Mn, Zn, Cu, Se and Fe） and some potential toxic elements（Cd, Pb and Br） in Juniperus thurifera subsp. africana Maire（Cupressaceae） a rare medicinal tree, growing indigenously in Aures Mountains of Algeria. The precision of the results was assessed by analyzing the certified reference material IPE44（WEPAL）grass leaves. Results showed J. thurifera was characterized by high Cr and Mn contents. During autumn and winter mineral concentrations were higher in general. The levels of Cr, Se and Mn were higher during autumn and winter than during spring and summer. Zn contents were higher during summer than in other seasons. Cu content did not vary by season. The potential toxic elements in J. thurifera（Pb [ Cd [ Br） were below the permissible limits recommended by the Joint WHO/FAO guidelines except for Pb in autumn and winter.

Effect of annealing atmospheres on the scintillation properties of Ce^(3+)‑doped YAG nanoscintillator

Background In this study,three sample detectors have been prepared by using cerium-activated YAG nanoscintillator(Y_(3)Al_(5)O_(12):Ce^(3+))synthesized by sol-gel method and heat-treat at 900°C for 2 h in different atmospheres such as vacuum,air and nitrogen.Purpose Many studies about YAG:Ce^(3+)single crystal have been carried out,but the material at the nanoscale remains not enough understood.The objective of the present paper is to investigate the effects of annealing atmosphere on the scintillation properties and identify the suitable atmosphere that allow to design radiation detectors with high scintillation efficiency.Methods In order to accurately assess the scintillation properties,the nanoscintillator sample powders have been designed as a detector,in which,preparation operations such as surface homogenization and efficiency coupling with photomultiplier tube(PMT)window were developed.The study was performed usingγ-rays 662 keV released from137Cs radioactive source,the bi-alkali GDB-4FF PMT was used as a photodetector.Nuclear instrumentation chain was set up in order to collect the pulse height spectra,NaI:Tl single-crystal scintillator was used as a reference detector to estimate the scintillation light yield.The delayed coincidence method was used for measuring the scintillation decay time of nanoscintillator sample detectors.Results The sample detector annealed at vacuum atmosphere exhibits the best scintillation properties,the scintillation light yield was estimated to be 14,600±3400 ph/MeV and the fast component in the scintillation decay was 90 ns.Conclusion The vacuum is the suitable atmosphere which allows the development of radiation detectors with high scintillation efficiency.