Conceptual Phase Neutronic and Thermal Analyses for the LEU Conversion of the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)
- Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Argonne IL, 60439 (United States)
The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) is an experimental reactor designed for transient testing of nuclear reactor fuels and other materials. TREAT is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It was operated from 1959 until 1994, when it was placed on nonoperational standby. Preparations for the restart of TREAT are now underway. Simultaneously, work is being performed to support the conversion of TREAT from its current high enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to low enriched uranium (LEU, defined as uranium with less than 20% {sup 235}U) fuel, under the support of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Material Management and Minimization (M{sup 3}) reactor conversion program. Following the pre-conceptual phase of the TREAT conversion project (which included assessments of conversion feasibility, including LEU fuel element fabrication feasibility), conceptual phase work was performed to evaluate potential LEU fuel element designs for TREAT. Simultaneously, activities including scale-up development work for fuel fabrication and mock-up element production were performed by the INL Fuel Engineering and Design (FED) team. Utilizing the lessons learned in the analysis and fabrication work, an LEU conceptual design description was collaboratively established and evaluated in detail. A summary of this work and corresponding example results are presented here. (authors)
- OSTI ID:
- 23042862
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 115; Conference: 2016 ANS Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 6-10 Nov 2016; Other Information: Country of input: France; 7 refs.; available from American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (US); ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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