Limiting the impact of recent outage experience in a midsize university reactor environment
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
The University of Florida Training Reactor (UFTR) is a light-water-cooled, graphite- and light-water-moderated, modified Argonaut-type reactor licensed to operate at steady-state power levels up to 100 kW. The UFTR continues to utilize high-enriched materials test reactor-type fuel in a piping circuit type of system versus the more familiar pool reactor design. Though somewhat limited for research and service, the UFTR is a valuable educational facility. Despite its relatively low power level, the two-slab core configuration provides a peak thermal flux near 2 x 10{sup 12} n/cm{sup 2} {center_dot} s; in addition, other modifications and experimental adaptations have been implemented in the 36-yr history of the facility to enhance the potential of the facility for diverse types of unique educational usage. Its small physical size in a loop configuration makes it a good teaching tool, but it can also be associated with unique maintenance problems, as in this case. The mission of the UFTR is to serve regional needs for access to quality reactor usage in a variety of areas to support educational and training needs as well as research and service, including public information about nuclear energy. As the only nonpower reactor in the state of Florida in affiliation with an established and diverse nuclear and radiological engineering department, it has a strong role to play in education, training, research, and service, especially the former. As a result of its unique position, the facility has been quite successful in its mission. With so much educational usage scheduled, sometimes for classes arriving from 100 miles away, it is important to avoid unexpected outages as well as unexpectedly lengthy outages. Such planning usually is successful and has allowed the RFTR to build a clientele of more than four dozen regular educational users, although events in 1995 could have undetermined this effort.
- OSTI ID:
- 426369
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961103-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 96:006307-0090
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 75; Conference: Winter meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and the European Nuclear Society (ENS), Washington, DC (United States), 10-14 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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