Study of the influence of heat sources on the out-of-pile calibration curve of calorimetric cells used for nuclear energy deposition quantification
- Aix Marseille Universite, CNRS, Universite de Toulon, IM2NP UMR 7334, 13397, Marseille (France)
- CEA, DEN, DER, Instrumentation Sensors and Dosimetry Laboratory, Cadarache, F-13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance (France)
At present the Jules Horowitz Reactor is under construction in Cadarache research center of CEA 'French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission' center located in the south-east of France. This new Material Testing Reactor (MTR) will be operational in late 2019 and will allow the generation of a new experimental potential (up to 20 irradiation devices simultaneously) and new harsh conditions such as higher neutron fluxes (5.10{sup 14} n.cm{sup -2}.s{sup -1} for E≥1 MeV), faster material ageing and higher nuclear heating (up to 20 W/g for nominal capacity of 100 MW). In nuclear research field, the control and the measurement of the nuclear heating (energy deposition rate per mass unit induced by the interactions of radiations with matter) is crucial to carry out accurate studies on ageing of materials and on the behavior of nuclear fuels under irradiation. Several experiments need to know precisely this key parameter in order to establish dedicated thermal conditions. The measurement of the nuclear heating inside MTRs is realized by three kinds of sensors: single-cell calorimeter, differential calorimeter and gamma thermometer. One scientific objective of the IN-CORE program, between CEA and Aix-Marseille University in 2009, is to improve the nuclear heating measurement. In this context a new multi-sensor device, called CARMEN, was made. This device contains in particular a differential calorimeter which was designed to measure the nuclear heating in the periphery of OSIRIS reactor (a MTR located at Saclay, France) up to 2 W/g and tested during two irradiation campaigns. Results obtained during these campaigns showed that temperatures reached inside the calorimeter are higher than ones obtained during the preliminary out-of-pile calibration experiments. For instance for 1.74 W/g, the in-pile temperature of the calorimeter rod is equal to 305 deg. C against 225 deg. C in laboratory conditions by simulating the nuclear heating by Joule Effect inside the calorimeter cell head. This discrepancy is higher than in previous experiments because the calorimeter owns a high sensitivity. Consequently, a new prototype was created and instrumented by other heat sources in order to impose an energy deposition on the calorimetric cell structure (in particular in the base) and to improve the calibration step in out-of-pile conditions. In this paper, on the first part a detailed description of the new calorimetric sensor will be given. On the second part, the experimental response of the sensor obtained for several internal heating conditions will be shown. The influence of these conditions on the calibration curve will be discussed. Then the response of this prototype will be also presented for different external cooling fluid conditions (in particular flow temperature). In this part, the comparison between the in-pile and out-of-pile experimental results will be performed. On the last part, these out-of-pile experiments will be completed by 2D axisymmetrical thermal simulations with the CEA code CAST3M using Finite Elements Method. After a comparison between experimental and numerical works, improvements of the sensor prototype will be studied (new heat sources). (authors)
- Research Organization:
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE, 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016-5997 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22531297
- Report Number(s):
- ANIMMA-2015-IO-247; TRN: US16V0390102238
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ANIMMA 2015: 4. International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications, Lisboa (Portugal), 20-24 Apr 2015; Other Information: Country of input: France; 5 Refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Monte-Carlo Simulations of the Nuclear Energy Deposition Inside the CARMEN-1P Differential Calorimeter Irradiated into OSIRIS Reactor
Nuclear heating measurements by in-pile calorimetry: prospective works for a microsensor design
Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
AGING
C CODES
CALIBRATION
CALORIMETERS
CALORIMETRY
CAPACITY
CEA
ENERGY ABSORPTION
ENERGY LOSSES
HEAT SOURCES
HEATING
IRRADIATION DEVICES
JULES HOROWITZ REACTOR
MATERIALS TESTING
NEUTRON FLUX
NUCLEAR FUELS
OSIRIS REACTOR
SENSORS
THERMOMETERS