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Abstract

The invention disclosed is the method of exact calibration of gamma ray detectors called gamma thermometers prior to acceptance for installation into a nuclear reactor core. This exact calibration increases the accuracy of determining the power distribution in the nuclear reactor core. The calibration by electric resistance heating of the gamma thermometer consists of applying an electric current along the controlled heat path of the gamma thermometer and then measuring the temperature difference along this controlled heat path as a function of the amount of power generated by the electric resistance heating. Then, after the gamma thermometer is installed into the nuclear reactor core and the reactor core is operating at power producing conditions, the gamma ray heating of the detector produces a temperature difference along the controlled heat path. With the knowledge of this temperature difference, the calibration characteristic determined by the prior electric resistance heating is employed to accurately determine the local rate of gamma ray heating. The accurate measurement of the gamma heating rate at each location of a set of locations throughout the nuclear reactor core is the basis for accurately determining the power distribution within the nuclear reactor core.

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First Claim