Gamma-ray induced displacement in D20 reactors

Gamma-ray damage to tank walls is typically more severe in D{sub 2}O than in H{sub 2}O moderated lattices because of the much higher ratios of slow-to-fast neutron flux. To estimate this effect it was first necessary to develop energy dependent gamma-ray displacement cross sections for iron. These, along with coupled neutron-gamma-ray transport computations, provided a measure of displacement damage from this source in SRS reactor tank walls. Gamma-ray displacements originating from high energy gammas from neutron capture in and near the tank wall exceeded those from gamma rays created in the reactor core. The displacements from the combined gamma sources ranged from 13% to 16% of that due to iron atom recoil following neutron capture. 8 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.