9. Approach to Criticality

Source neutrons are essential for reactor restart after a long shutdown. The term “source neutrons” applied to a particular time interval refers to a steady supply of neutrons, constant over the time interval of interest. This supply must be independent of the current or very recent fission rate, which can vary over the time interval. Thus, source neutrons exclude prompt neutrons and even delayed neutrons which originate in the fuel (i.e., those born in the fuel itself). This exclusion does not apply to delayed photoneutrons, which come from fissions that have occurred a long time before, and whose numbers are quite constant over the current time interval (further discussion of this point below).