Analyses Supporting Design Review of TREAT Multi-SERTTA Experiment Test Vehicle

Conference · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:1407408

Bess, John D.; Hill, Connie M.; Woolstenhulme, Nicolas E.; Jensen, Colby B.

The Transient Test Reactor (TREAT) Facility was designed to evaluate nuclear fuels and structural materials under simulated nuclear excursion and transient power/cooling mismatch situations that could be encountered in nuclear reactors [1]. It was historically operated from 1959 through 1994; ongoing activities at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) include resumption of transient testing capabilities to generate experimental data suitable to validate advanced modeling and simulation of these transient conditions, supporting current and next generation power reactor design and nuclear safety [2]. The resumption of transient testing requires new experiment vehicle designs to satisfy testing needs. The most developed experiment test vehicle candidate in TREAT’s arsenal will be the Multi-SERTTA (Static Environment Rodlet Transient Test Apparatuses) [3], which accommodates up to four concurrent rodlets under separate environmental conditions. An overview of the Multi-SERTTA, which would be placed at the center of the TREAT core during use, is shown in Figure 1. In the current design, all four rodlet test vessels are identical except for flux shaping collar material content to meet design needs. As the date rapidly approaches for TREAT restart, there is a need to have the Multi-SERTTA design approved and tested. Test experiments are an integral component of TREAT operations, and will be integrated among initial restart testing and supporting core reactor physics measurements. An integral step in finalization of any test vehicle design for TREAT is the hosting and resolution of a formal design review.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1407408
• Report Number(s): INL/CON-16-40168
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Accident Analysis
Design Review
Multi-SERTTA
Neutronics
PWR
RIA
Safety Analysis
TREAT
Thermal
Transient Testing