THE AGGREGATES AS NUCLEAR
REACTORS
| Uraninite | |
| (UO2) | C% |
| Gangue | G"" |
| Water | W"" |
Nuclear characteristics:
The gangue was the moderator
Constituted mainly by O, Al, Si, etc. with low absorption cross sections
for thermal neutrons and with good slowing down properties
Water is a good moderator, cooland and control agent
The Model:
By using one group of thermal neutrons we have obtained the critical mass,
Mc, of the aggregates (assuming that its composition is unifrorm)
as a function of C, W and age (t). Our
results show that Mc values decrease
when t and C increase. So, the formation of aggregates, with masses
equal or greater than Mc, could be a relatively frequent
phenomenom !
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