Core conversion of the Portuguese research reactor to LEU fuel

Conference · Tue Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2008

OSTI ID:21113525

Marques, J G; Ramos, A R ^[1]; Kocher, A ^[2]

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1. Instituto Tecnologico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10, P-2686-953 Sacavem (Portugal)
2. AREVA CERCA, 10 rue Juliette Recamier, F-69456 Lyon Cedex 06 (France)

Core conversion of the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) to LEU fuel is being performed within IAEA's Technical Cooperation project POR/4/016, with financial support from the US and Portugal. CERCA was selected as manufacturer of the LEU assemblies by the IAEA after an international call for bids. CERCA provided a comprehensive package to the RPI which included the mechanical verification of the design of the assemblies, their manufacture and arrangements for a joint inspection of the finished assemblies. The LEU fuel assemblies were manufactured within 8 months upon final approval of the design. The safety analyses for the core conversion to LEU fuel were made with the assistance of the RERTR program and were submitted for review by the IAEA and by Portuguese authorities in January 2007. Revised documents were submitted in June 2007 addressing the issues raised during review. Regulatory approval was received in early August and core conversion was done in early September. All measured safety parameters are within the defined acceptance limits. Operation at full power is expected by the end of October. (author)

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory, Nuclear Engineering Division, RERTR Department, Argonne, IL (United States); Czech Technical University, Prague (Czech Republic)
• OSTI ID: 21113525
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--08N0001; Project IAEA POR/4/016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
DESIGN
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
IAEA
NUCLEAR FUELS
PORTUGAL
REACTOR OPERATION
RESEARCH REACTORS
REVIEWS
SAFETY
SAFETY ANALYSIS
VERIFICATION