Preliminary hazards evaluation for enriched uranium-thoria (E-Q) loading: Hanford IPD reactors
The General Electric Company, as contractor to the AEC at Hanford, is proposing to modify the fuel loading of one or more of the IPD production reactors for the purpose of producing ``clean`` U-232 as a coproduct with plutonium. The isotope, U-233, with low (3-5 ppM) U-232 content, is expected to become a material with important nuclear applications. The IPD reactors are well suited to produce clean U-233. A proposal to produce 200 kg of U-233 for critical experiments for the AEC`s seed-and-blanket reactor program have been made in response to recent AEC inquiries. The production of such large quantities of U-233, on the schedule requested, would require nearly full utilization of the IPD reactors for a period of about half a year. This report, therefore, is intended to evaluate the nuclear safety of the IPD reactors whose entire loadings have been altered to coproduce U-233 and Pu-239. The coproduct loading will involve irradiating thorium oxide target elements. Excess reactivity to support the target material will be furnished by slightly enriched uranium, charged in tubes separate from the thoria. The expected fuel-to-target ratio is about 5.5 in the reactor cores and two in the reactor fringes. A full technical hazards evaluation of the E-Q load is presently in preparation and will be issued as a supplement to the Hazards Summary Reports. This treatment covers only the highlights of the full report and is intended as an interim and preliminary evaluation.
- Research Organization:
- General Electric Co., Richland, WA (United States). Hanford Atomic Products Operation
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 10168069
- Report Number(s):
- HW--83411; ON: DE94015484
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Thoria target element failures
Th-228 contamination in irradiated thoria