Calculation of Neutron Damage to Sodium Coolant Inlet Plenum
Conference
·
OSTI ID:1574010
- Idaho National Laboratory
- Fei
The coolant inlet plenum is a life limiting component of a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). The inlet plenum is a fixed reactor component which receives sodium from the cold side of the sodium pool redan and directs it into the inlet nozzles of the fuel assemblies. Neutron leakage from the reactor core causes irradiation damage to the steel components of the inlet plenum leading to a reduction in strength. The life of the reactor is essentially tied to the acceptable strength degradation of the inlet plenum. Therefore, typical SFR designs employ a neutron reflector/shield as an integral feature of the fuel assembly. The role of the axial reflector/shield is to: 1) direct fast neutrons back to the core, and 2) attenuate the neutron flux to minimize neutron interaction with the inlet plenum. The longer the reflector and the greater the share of steel within the reflector design, the greater the attenuation. The axial reflector is heated by gamma rays from the core, and must have sufficient coolant penetrations to ensure adequate cool-ability. Also, the sodium coolant must pass through the reflector before reaching the fuel rods above it. The present work investigates varying reflector geometries in support of the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a SFR research reactor planned to restart fast reactor irradiation capabilities in the U.S. DOE laboratory complex. This work will demonstrate that the neutron damage to the inlet plenum is relatively insensitive to the number and arrangements of coolant channel penetrations through the reflector.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Versatile Test Reactor
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1574010
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-19-52709-Rev000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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