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Title: GAS-COOLED REACTOR PROJECT SEMIANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR PERIOD ENDING JUNE 30, 1959

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4237335

4 7 4 7 : 1 3 8 3 4 9 ?: 5 2 4 5 8 7 4 3 6 5 7 . studied. It was concluded on the basis of the hazards involved that the system would be better suited to a central-station application. Two integrated gas-cooled reactor core and steam generator units that would utilize ceramic fuels were investigated. The fuel element surface and coolant gas temperatures were determined for various power density distributions in the PEGCPR. This reactor is desigaed with ftxed orifices to match the coolant flow to the heat generated. A new model for determining the temperature gradients and the thermal stability of a rod cluster in a circular channel is being developed. A septafoil fuel element cluster in a coolant channel with a scalloped cross section was analyzed to determine whether the coolant flow with this geometry would improve the temperature distribution on the surface of the fuel elements. Calculations were made of the ideal core pumping power required for the pebble- bed and clustered-fuel-rod reactor core concepts. An analysis of the effect of thermal radiation in limiting the maximum fuel capsule temperatures during a loss of coolant accident in a GCR-2 type of reactor was performed on the Reactor Controls Analog Facility. A method was developed by which an accurate analysis may be obtained of the deflection and stresses in a beam of a grid structure if the interaction forces at the intersections of the cross beams are known. Tube buckling experiments are under way, and a curve of critical pressure as a function of unsupported length was obtained. The stresses and deflections in perforated plates were investigated experimentally. A study was made of the available information on helium ionization and electrical breakdown at high pressures and temperatures. A parametric study was made of the factors affecting containment vessel costs and size limitations. The fast neutron dose to the PEGCPR pressure vessel was calculated. A detailed study is being made of the worth of the B4C control rods of the EGCR. Calculations were made to determine the effect the EGCR experimental loops will have on the neutron flux and thermal performance of the reactor core. Calculations were made to determine the validity of various models used to predict the power-density distribution within a cluster of steel-jacketed UO/sub 2/ fael rods. The study of the contribution of spacers and hangers to the over-all pressure drop in a full-scale model of a fuel channel was continued. The effect of swirl-flow on surface velocity patterns in the septafoil geometry was investigated. An unexpected skewness in the circumferential temperature patterns observed in the heatedtube experiment led to the introduction of a weir in the entrance region. Naphthalene-to-air mass-transfer experiments were used to measure the heat transfer in septafoil geometries and to establish the effects of rod spacing ratios on the heat transfer. A thorough review was carried out on all design studies, specifications, and drawings for the Title I design of the PEGCPR. The experimental reactor is to be built at an Oak Ridge site, and is to be called the Experimental Gas Cooled Reactor (EGCR). A continuous double-calcination process was developed for the production of UO/sub 2/ powder of various enrichments for the irradiation program. A process was developed for the fabrication of UO/sub 2/ solid pellets with a density of 75% theoretical. A study on thermal conductivity and high-temperature deformation properties of UO/sub 2/ and the thermal stability of UO/sub 2/ dispersed in graphite is being conducted. The conditions that produce failure of type 304 stalnless steel capsules from internal pressure were determined. An extensive program of creep testing of type 304 stainless steel in

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
NSA Number:
NSA-13-020711
OSTI ID:
4237335
Report Number(s):
ORNL-2767
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-59
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English