An alternative LEU design for the FRM-II
The Alternative LEU Design for the FRM-II proposed by the RERTR Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has a compact core consisting of a single fuel element that uses LEU silicide fuel with a uranium density of 4.5 g/cm{sup 3} and has a power level of 32 MW. Both the HEU design by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the alternative LEU design by ANL have the same fuel lifetime (50 days) and the same neutron flux performance. LEU silicide fuel with 4.5 g/cm{sup 3} has been thoroughly tested and is fully-qualified, licensable, and available now for use in a high flux reactor such as the FRM-II. The following issues raised by TUM were addressed in Ref. 1: qualification of HEU and LEU silicide fuels, gamma heating in the heavy water reflector, radiological consequences of larger fission product and plutonium inventories in the LEU core, and cost and schedule. The conclusions of these analyses are summarized below. This paper addresses three additional safety issues that were raised by TUM in Ref. 2: stability of the involute fuel plates, a hypothetical accident involving the configuration of the reflector, and a loss of primary coolant flow transient due to an interrupted power supply. Based on the excellent results for the Alternative LEU Design that were obtained in these analyses, the RERTR Program concludes that all of the major technical issues regarding use of LEU fuel instead of HEU fuel in the FRM-II have been successfully resolved and that it is definitely feasible to use LEU fuel in the FRM-II without compromising the safety or performance of the facility.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 414403
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/TD/CP-91567; CONF-9610205-6; ON: DE97001405; TRN: 97:001825
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 19. international meeting on reduced enrichment for research and test reactors (RERTR), Seoul (Korea, Republic of), 7-10 Oct 1996; Other Information: PBD: [1996]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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An alternative LEU design for the FRM-II