Computational Modeling, Simulation and Analysis of the RPI Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility (RCF)

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:23042546

Eklund, Matthew D.; Dupont, Mathieu; Caracappa, Peter F.; Ji, Wei ^[1]

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1. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 (United States)

The Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility (RCF), located in Schenectady, New York, is currently owned and operated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The facility was originally constructed by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the research and development of small, portable reactors. Originally designed for highly-enriched uranium fuel, the prototype reactor first came online in August 26, 1956, and was transferred to RPI ownership in 1963. Several changes to the reactor's design and operation have been made, the most notable of which was the conversion from high-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium fuel. The RCF is an open-pool critical assembly that operates at a low power with a license limit of less than 100 watts. This low operating power permits a much greater flexibility in configuration and operation as compared to other research reactors. Because of this, experiments may be designed that would be unfeasible for research reactors that operate at much higher powers. The RCF's functional capabilities provide opportunities to perform several reactor experiments and measurements, such as: core criticality experiments, differential and integral rod worth measurements, moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity calculations, critical rod height and critical water height measurements, etc.. These experiments are regularly performed in conjunction with RPI course-work education and Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) training. The unique capabilities and experiments that may be performed in the RCF are particularly useful for validating certain aspects of computational analysis codes. A computational model of the RCF reactor has been previously generated and validated using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. For the purpose of future experiments, this model is also being adapted for use with the SHARP Toolset, which includes the PROTEUS neutronics code, the Nek5000 fluid dynamics code, and the Diablo structural mechanics code. (authors)

• OSTI ID: 23042546
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 115; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CRITICALITY
FLUID MECHANICS
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
MODERATORS
MONTE CARLO METHOD
REACTOR DESIGN
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR OPERATORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT
ZERO POWER REACTORS