Download or read book Reactor Physics Methods and Preconceptual Core Design Analyses for Conversion of the Advanced Test Reactor to Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2012 written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under the current long-term DOE policy and planning scenario, both the ATR and the ATRC will be reconfigured at an appropriate time within the next several years to operate with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This will be accomplished under the auspices of the Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reactor (RERTR) Program, administered by the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). At a minimum, the internal design and composition of the fuel element plates and support structure will change, to accommodate the need for low enrichment in a manner that maintains total core excess reactivity at a suitable level for anticipated operational needs throughout each cycle while respecting all control and shutdown margin requirements and power distribution limits. The complete engineering design and optimization of LEU cores for the ATR and the ATRC will require significant multi-year efforts in the areas of fuel design, development and testing, as well as a complete re-analysis of the relevant reactor physics parameters for a core composed of LEU fuel, with possible control system modifications. Ultimately, revalidation of the computational physics parameters per applicable national and international standards against data from experimental measurements for prototypes of the new ATR and ATRC core designs will also be required for Safety Analysis Report (SAR) changes to support routine operations with LEU. This report is focused on reactor physics analyses conducted during Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 to support the initial development of several potential preconceptual fuel element designs that are suitable candidates for further study and refinement during FY-2013 and beyond. In a separate, but related, effort in the general area of computational support for ATR operations, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is conducting a focused multiyear effort to introduce modern high-fidelity computational reactor physics software and associated validation protocols to replace several obsolete components of the current analytical tool set used for ATR neutronics support. This aggressive computational and experimental campaign will have a broad strategic impact on the operation of the ATR, both in terms of improved computational efficiency and accuracy for support of ongoing DOE programs as well as in terms of national and international recognition of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF). It will also greatly facilitate the LEU conversion effort, since the upgraded computational capabilities are now at a stage where they can be, and in fact have been, used for the required physics analysis from the beginning. In this context, extensive scoping neutronics analyses were completed for six preconceptual candidate LEU fuel element designs for the ATR (and for its companion critical facility, ATRC). Of these, four exhibited neutronics performance in what is believed to be an acceptable range. However, there are currently some concerns with regard to fabricability and mechanical performance that have emerged for one of the four latter concepts. Thus three concepts have been selected for more comprehensive conceptual design analysis during the upcoming fiscal year.
Download or read book Evaluation of Core Physics Analysis Methods for Conversion of the Inl Advanced Test Reactor to Low Enrichment Fuel written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Computational neutronics studies to support the possible conversion of the ATR to LEU are underway. Simultaneously, INL is engaged in a physics methods upgrade project to put into place modern computational neutronics tools for future support of ATR fuel cycle and experiment analysis. A number of experimental measurements have been performed in the ATRC in support of the methods upgrade project, and are being used to validate the new core physics methods. The current computational neutronics work is focused on performance of scoping calculations for the ATR core loaded with a candidate LEU fuel design. This will serve as independent confirmation of analyses that have been performed previously, and will evaluate some of the new computational methods for analysis of a candidate LEU fuel for ATR.
Download or read book 10 CFR 830 Major Modification Determination for Advanced Test Reactor LEU Fuel Conversion written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), located in the ATR Complex of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), was constructed in the 1960s for the purpose of irradiating reactor fuels and materials. Other irradiation services, such as radioisotope production, are also performed at ATR. The ATR is fueled with high-enriched uranium (HEU) matrix (UAlx) in an aluminum sandwich plate cladding. The National Nuclear Security Administration Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) strategic mission includes efforts to reduce and protect vulnerable nuclear and radiological material at civilian sites around the world. Converting research reactors from using HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU) was originally started in 1978 as the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) Program under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Within this strategic mission, GTRI has three goals that provide a comprehensive approach to achieving this mission: The first goal, the driver for the modification that is the subject of this determination, is to convert research reactors from using HEU to LEU. Thus the mission of the ATR LEU Fuel Conversion Project is to convert the ATR and Advanced Test Reactor Critical facility (ATRC) (two of the six U.S. High-Performance Research Reactors [HPRR]) to LEU fuel by 2017. The major modification criteria evaluation of the project pre-conceptual design identified several issues that lead to the conclusion that the project is a major modification.
Download or read book Advanced Test Reactor Core Modeling Update Project Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2010 written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legacy computational reactor physics software tools and protocols currently used for support of Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) core fuel management and safety assurance and, to some extent, experiment management are obsolete, inconsistent with the state of modern nuclear engineering practice, and are becoming increasingly difficult to properly verify and validate (V & V). Furthermore, the legacy staff knowledge required for application of these tools and protocols from the 1960s and 1970s is rapidly being lost due to staff turnover and retirements. In 2009 the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a focused effort to address this situation through the introduction of modern high-fidelity computational software and protocols, with appropriate V & V, within the next 3-4 years via the ATR Core Modeling and Simulation and V & V Update (or "Core Modeling Update") Project. This aggressive computational and experimental campaign will have a broad strategic impact on the operation of the ATR, both in terms of improved computational efficiency and accuracy for support of ongoing DOE programs as well as in terms of national and international recognition of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF).
Download or read book Assumptions and Criteria for Performing a Feasability Study of the Conversion of the High Flux Isotope Reactor Core to Use Low Enriched Uranium Fuel written by R. J. Ellis and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A computational study will be initiated during fiscal year 2006 to examine the feasibility of converting the High Flux Isotope Reactor from highly enriched uranium fuel to low-enriched uranium. The study will be limited to steady-state, nominal operation, reactor physics and thermal-hydraulic analyses of a uranium-molybdenum alloy that would be substituted for the current fuel powder--U{sub 3}O{sub 8} mixed with aluminum. The purposes of this document are to (1) define the scope of studies to be conducted, (2) define the methodologies to be used to conduct the studies, (3) define the assumptions that serve as input to the methodologies, (4) provide an efficient means for communication with the Department of Energy and American research reactor operators, and (5) expedite review and commentary by those parties.
Download or read book Analysis of the Reactor Physics of Low Enrichment Fuel for the INL Advanced Test Reactor in Support of RERTR written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analysis of the performance of the ATR with a LEU fuel design shows promise in terms of a core design that will yield the same neutron sources in target locations. A proposed integral cladding burnable absorber design appears to meet power profile requirements that will satisfy power distributions for safety limits. Performance of this fuel design is ongoing; the current work is the initial evaluation of the core performance of this fuel design with increasing burnup. Results show that LEU fuel may have a longer lifetime that HEU fuel however, such limits may be set by mechanical performance of the fuel rather that available reactivity. Changes seen in the radial fuel power distribution with burnup in LEU fuel will require further study to ascertain the impact on neutron fluxes in target locations. Source terms for discharged fuel have also been studied. By its very nature, LEU fuel produces much more plutonium than is present in HEU fuel at discharge. However, the effect of the plutonium inventory appears to have little affect on radiotoxicity or decay heat in the fuel.
Download or read book Reactor Physics Calculations For Applications In Nuclear Technology Proceedings Of The Workshop written by Dermott E Cullen and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1991-01-30 with total page 757 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This workshop was designed to meet the needs of those currently involved in or are planning a nuclear programme involving research and/or power fission reactors. The workshop had a broad scope including not only fission reactor core calculations, but also safety, fuel management, waste disposal reactor licensing. The lectures and computer exercises covered almost all aspects of the operation of fission reactors.This workshop introduced participants to the methods currently used in fission reactor calculations and to some computer codes in which these methods are used.
Download or read book Advanced Test Reactor Core Modeling Update Project written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advanced Test Reactor Core Modeling Update Project: Annual Report for Fiscal 2014.
Download or read book Final Physics Report for the Engineering Test Reactor written by W. Cegelski and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Research Reactor Design Parameters For Core Conversion HEU to LEU written by Abdulhameed Salawu and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains detail information on the various reactor physics calculations for core conversion studies of Research Reactor. It provides detail information about the procedure for generating fine group and broad-group cross section libraries for the HEU and the proposed LEU fueled Nigeria Research Reactor (NIRR-1). It also provides information about various reactor models used in the generation of broad group cross section library for reactor physics calculation. In addition, detail information about the development of a 2-D RZ computational model for the HEU and the proposed LEU core configuration can be found in this book. The reactor design parameters generated for the two cores of NIRR-1 were as expected and the result from the preliminary calculation was used to verify the accuracy of the broad group cross section generation process. The data and models developed in this book can be very helpful in future analyses of the HEU/LEU fueled research reactors (i.e. NIRR-1). It can serve as a very useful material during the start up activities and operations of the proposed LEU fueled NIRR-1.
Download or read book Test and Verification of Heterogeneous Reactor Calculation Methods written by and published by . This book was released on 1963-04 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reactor Physics Results from Low power Measurements in the Advanced Test Reactor written by N. C. Kaufman and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Low Cost Physics and Engineering Training Reactor written by and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Impact Assessment for the MIT Research Reactor Low Enrichment Uranium Fuel Fabrication Tolerances written by Dakota J. Allen and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the framework of non-proliferation policy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) is planning to convert from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. A new type of high-density LEU fuel based on a monolithic U-10Mo alloy is being qualified to allow the conversion of all remaining U.S. high performance research reactors including the MITR. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of proposed MITR LEU "FYT" fuel element fabrication tolerances on the operation and safety limits of the MITR. Therefore, the effects of fabrication specification parameters on all levels of the core, ranging from full-core alterations to individual spots on the fuel plates were analyzed. Evaluations at the design tolerances, and beyond, were conducted through neutronics and thermal hydraulics calculations. The first step was analyzing the separate effects that parameters, including enrichment, fuel mass loading, fuel plate thickness, and impurities, have on the reactor physics of the core. These analyses were used to develop curve fits to predict the effect of these parameters on the excess reactivity of fresh fuel inserted into the LEU core. These models could then be used to estimate the effect on fuel cycle length to ensure the tolerances would not cause significant changes to the operating cycle of MITR. These analyses estimated the margin to criticality present in the core and ensured that the reactivity shutdown margin (SDM) was not violated. Other parameters such as coolant channel gap and local fuel homogeneity cause primarily local impacts including the power distribution within the fuel element, and related impacts to thermal hydraulic margins. This modeling was necessary to ensure that these parameters would not cause the margin to MITR's thermal hydraulic safety limit, the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB), to be violated. The final step was a covariance analysis of the combined effects at a full-core and element level. This combined effect analysis assured that the core would maintain proper safety and operational margins with a realistic distribution of off-nominal parameters. Given the comprehensive analysis performed, the current design fabrication tolerances were determined to provide acceptable fuel cycle length and safety margins consistent with the MITR LEU preliminary safety analysis report, and a basis for updating these tolerances during planned manufacturing-scale plate fabrication demonstrations has been established.
Download or read book Advances in High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor Fuel Technology written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2012-06 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication reports on the results of a coordinated research project on advances in high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) fuel technology and describes the findings of research activities on coated particle developments. These comprise two specific benchmark exercises with the application of HTGR fuel performance and fission product release codes, which helped compare the quality and validity of the computer models against experimental data. The project participants also examined techniques for fuel characterization and advanced quality assessment/quality control. The key exercise included a round-robin experimental study on the measurements of fuel kernel and particle coating properties of recent Korean, South African and US coated particle productions applying the respective qualification measures of each participating Member State. The summary report documents the results and conclusions achieved by the project and underlines the added value to contemporary knowledge on HTGR fuel.
Download or read book Current Outstanding Reactor Physics Problems written by U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Advisory Committee on Reactor Physics and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Status of Fast Reactor Research and Technology Development written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Based on a recommendation from the Technical Working Group on Fast Reactors, this publication is a regular update of previous publications on fast reactor technology. The publication provides comprehensive and detailed information on the technology of fast neutron reactors. The focus is on practical issues that are useful to engineers, scientists, managers, university students and professors. The main issues of discussion are experience in design, construction, operation and decommissioning, various areas of research and development, engineering, safety and national strategies, and public acceptance of fast reactors. In the summary the reader will find national strategies, international initiatives on innovative (i.e. Generation IV) systems and an assessment of public acceptance as related to fast reactors."--Résumé de l'éditeur.
