Negative Temperature Coefficient

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Negative Temperature Coefficient

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1. The partial derivative of any physical variable with respect to temperature, when the value of the variable decreases as temperature increases. </dd>
2. The decrease in reactivity of a nuclear reactor with increase in temperature. </dd>
Increasing temperature within the reactor increases the average neutron energy. Since the cross section of the fissionable material decrease with increased neutron energy, the net effect of increased temperature is to decrease the number of fissions. </dd>

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use