Nuclear poison

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For information on radioactive toxins see Radiation poisoning

A nuclear poison, also called a neutron poison is a substance with a large neutron absorption cross-section in applications, such as nuclear reactors, when absorbing neutrons is an undesirable effect. However in some reactors, neutron-absorbing materials also called poisons are intentionally inserted into some types of reactors in order to lower the high reactivity of their initial fresh fuel load. Some of these poisons deplete as they absorb neutrons during reactor operation, while others remain relatively constant.

1 Fission product poison
2 Decay poisons
3 Control poisons
4 References

[edit] Fission product poison

Some of the fission products generated during a nuclear reaction have a high neutron absorption capacity, such as xenon-135 (Xe-135) and samarium-149 (Sm-149). Because these two fission product poisons remove neutrons from the reactor, they will have an impact on the thermal utilization factor and thus the reactivity. The poisoning of a reactor core by these fission products may become so serious that the chain reaction comes to a standstill.

Xe-135 in particular has a tremendous impact on the operation of a nuclear reactor. The inability of a reactor to be started due to the effects of Xe-135 is sometimes referred to as xenon precluded start-up. The period of time where the reactor is unable to override the effects of Xe-135 is called the xenon dead time. During periods of steady state operation, at a constant neutron flux level, the Xe-135 concentration builds up to its equilibrium value for that reactor power in about 40 to 50 hours. When the reactor power is increased, Xe-135 concentration initially decreases because the burn up is increased at the new higher power level. Because 95% of the Xe-135 production is from iodine-135 decay, which has a 6 to 7 hour half-life, the production of Xe-135 remains constant, at this point, the Xe-135 concentration reaches a minimum. The concentration then increases to the new equilibrium level for the new power level in again roughly 40 to 50 hours. The magnitude and the rate of change of concentration during the initial 4 to 6 hours following the power change is dependent upon the initial power level and on the amount of change in power level; the Xe-135 concentration change is greater for a larger change in power level. When reactor power is decreased, the process is reversed.

Because Sm-149 is not radioactive and is not removed by decay, it presents problems somewhat different from those encountered with Xe-135. The equilibrium concentration and (thus the poisoning effect) builds to an equilibrium value during reactor operation in about 500 hours, and since Sm-149 is stable, the concentration remains essentially constant during reactor operation.

There are numerous other fission products that, as a result of their concentration and thermal neutron absorption cross section, have a poisoning effect on reactor operation. Individually, they are of little consequence, but taken together they have a significant impact. These are often characterized as lumped fission product poisons and accumulate at an average rate of 50 barns per fission event in the reactor. The buildup of fission product poisons in the fuel eventually leads to loss of efficiency, and in some cases to instability. In practice, buildup of reactor poisons in nuclear fuel is what determines the lifetime of nuclear fuel in a reactor: long before all possible fissions have taken place, buildup of long-lived neutron-absorbing fission products damps out the chain reaction. This is the reason that nuclear reprocessing is a useful activity: spent nuclear fuel contains about 99% of the original fissionable material present in newly manufactured nuclear fuel. Chemical separation of the fission products restores the fuel so that it can be used again.

[edit] Decay poisons

In addition to fission product poisons, other materials in the reactor decay to materials that act as neutron poisons. An example of this is the decay of tritium to helium-3 (He-3). Since tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years, normally this decay does not significantly affect reactor operations because the rate of decay of tritium is so slow. However, if tritium is produced in a reactor and then allowed to remain in the reactor during a prolonged shutdown of several months, a sufficient amount of tritium may decay to He-3 to add a significant amount of negative reactivity. Any He-3 produced in the reactor during a shutdown period will be removed during subsequent operation by a neutron-proton reaction.

[edit] Control poisons

During operation of a reactor the amount of fuel contained in the core constantly decreases. If the reactor is to operate for a long period of time, fuel in excess of that needed for exact criticality must be added when the reactor is built. The positive reactivity due to the excess fuel must be balanced with negative reactivity from neutron-absorbing material. Movable control rods containing neutron-absorbing material is one method, but control rods alone to balance the excess reactivity may be impractical for a particular core design as there may be insufficient room for the rods or their mechanisms.

[edit] Burnable poisons

To control large amounts of excess fuel without control rods, burnable poisons are loaded into the core. Burnable poisons are materials that have a high neutron absorption cross section that are converted into materials of relatively low absorption cross section as the result of neutron absorption. Due to the burn-up of the poison material, the negative reactivity of the burnable poison decreases over core life. Ideally, these poisons should decrease their negative reactivity at the same rate the fuel's excess positive reactivity is depleted. Fixed burnable poisons are generally used in the form of compounds of boron or gadolinium that are shaped into separate lattice pins or plates, or introduced as additives to the fuel. Since they can usually be distributed more uniformly than control rods, these poisons are less disruptive to the core's power distribution. Fixed burnable poisons may also be discretely loaded in specific locations in the core in order to shape or control flux profiles to prevent excessive flux and power peaking near certain regions of the reactor. Current practice however is to use fixed non-burnable poisons in this service.

[edit] Non-burnable poison

A non-burnable poison is one that maintains a constant negative reactivity worth over the life of the core. While no neutron poison is strictly non-burnable, certain materials can be treated as non-burnable poisons under certain conditions. One example is hafnium. The removal (by absorption of neutrons) of one isotope of hafnium leads to the production of another neutron absorber, and continues through a chain of five absorbers. This absorption chain results in a long-lived burnable poison which approximates non-burnable characteristics.

[edit] Soluble poisons

Soluble poisons, also called chemical shim, produce a spatially uniform neutron absorption when dissolved in the water coolant. The most common soluble poison in commercial pressurized water reactors (PWR) is boric acid, which is often referred to as soluble boron, or simply solbor. The boric acid in the coolant decreases the thermal utilization factor, causing a decrease in reactivity. By varying the concentration of boric acid in the coolant, a process referred to as boration and dilution, the reactivity of the core can be easily varied. If the boron concentration is increased, the coolant/moderator absorbs more neutrons, adding negative reactivity. If the boron concentration is reduced (dilution), positive reactivity is added. The changing of boron concentration in a PWR is a slow process and is used primarily to compensate for fuel burnout or poison buildup. The variation in boron concentration allows control rod use to be minimized, which results in a flatter flux profile over the core than can be produced by rod insertion. The flatter flux profile is due to the fact that there are no regions of depressed flux like those that would be produced in the vicinity of inserted control rods. This system is not in widespread use because the chemicals make the moderator temperature reactivity coefficient less negative.

Soluble poisons are also used in emergency shutdown systems. During SCRAM the operators can inject solutions containing neutron poisons directly into the reactor coolant. Various solutions, including sodium polyborate and gadolinium nitrate (Gd(NO₃)₃ X•H₂O), are used.