Transition Core Analysis for HEU to LEU Fuel Conversion at the University of Missouri Research Reactor

Journal Article · Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Nuclear Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1763720· OSTI ID:1774534

Cowherd, Wilson ^[1]; Stillman, John ^[2]; Gahl, John ^[1]; Foyto, Leslie ^[1]; Wilson, Erik ^[2]

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1. University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, MO (United States)
2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)

A new type of low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel based on an alloy of uranium and molybdenum is expected to allow the conversion of U.S. domestic high-performance research and test reactors requiring high density fuel from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to LEU. The University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR (R)) has undergone design and performance calculations for conversion to this LEU fuel. Presented in this paper is the analysis of a crucial step in the conversion process: the sequence of MURR transition cores from all fresh to equilibrium burnup LEU operations. During the initial conversion from HEU to LEU fuel, MURR will operate atypically due to the lack of burned LEU elements. Given the constraints of MURR operation and experiments, a proposed transition scheme minimizes the time MURR operates atypically compared to the prototypic cycles currently run with HEU fuel and moves quickly to the same sort of equilibrium cycles for the LEU fuel.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357; 7J-30010
• OSTI ID: 1774534
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Vol. 207, Issue 2; ISSN 0029-5450
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis - formerly American Nuclear Society (ANS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
research reactor
fuel conversion
transition core analysis