A pneumatic tube system conveys samples from a basement room to an irradiation position beside the core. The “rabbits” used in the system will convey samples up to 1-1/4 inches diameter an 5-1/2 inches long. The system operates as a closed loop with CO2 cover gas preventing generation of Ar41 activity.
The reactivity effect from a sample will be restricted to less than 0.2% Δk/k. Tests run with water and cadmium samples indicate that sample reactivity effects will normally be less than 0.01% Δk/k. Static reactivity measurements will be run for samples of fissionable material or particularly strong absorbers such as some of the rare earths.