THE RESPONSE OF A WATER BOILER REACTOR TO VERY FAST POWER TRANSIENTS AND LINEARLY INCREASING REACTIVITY INPUTS. WATER BOILER EXCURSIONS WITH AN INITIALLY FILLED CORE

Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1958

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4309587· OSTI ID:4309587

Stitt, R K; Gardner, E L; Roecker, J H; Wimmer, R E; Hetrick, D L

A report is made on the Kinetic Experiment on Water Beller Program. The purpose of this program is to examine the dynamic behavior of homogeneous research reactors to obtain the information necessary for the evaluation of the nuclear safety of such reactors. Step inputs of reactivity were systematically increased and the first test core, a spherical core designed for stable power operation at 50 kw, was examined under conditions of 4% reactivity release This is the maximum normally installed in such reactors A 4% reactivity release places the reactor on a 2 millisecond stable period and leads to a peak power of 530 Mw. This represents the fastest intentional power excursion of any thermal reactor. The reactivity released is more than twice that which any other has withstood without damage. The maximum pressure in the system for this transient was a sharp pressure peak of 370 psia. This pressure is well below that required to cause yield of a typical water boller core. (A.C.)

• Research Organization: Atomics International Div., North American Aviation, Inc., Canoga Park, Calif.
• DOE Contract Number: AT(11-1)-GEN-8
• NSA Number: NSA-13-003378
• OSTI ID: 4309587
• Report Number(s): AECU-3929
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ACCIDENTS
BOILING
EXCURSIONS
FAILURES
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
MEASURED VALUES
MELTING
NEUTRON FLUX
POWER
PRESSURE
REACTIVITY
REACTOR CORE
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
SPHERES
STABILITY
THERMAL NEUTRONS
TRANSIENTS
WATER COOLANT