QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT FOR MTR-ETR TECHNICAL BRANCHES. Fourth Quarter- 1957
6 5 3 6 4 5 6 6 4 3 1 5 69 ? 4 4 or a full loading of MTR fuel elements contains an apprecinble fraction of Pu/sup 240/ , the resulting decrease in initial reactivity was calculated for nine possible combinations of plutonium contents and Pu/sup 240/ concentrations. Calculations show that a uniform U/sup 233/ loading employing 155-gram fuel assemblies in the 3 x 9 MTR lattice gives the same charge life as a uniform U/sup 235/ loading employing 180-gram fuel assemblies. A complete map of relative thermal neutron flux is reported for an ETR Critical Facility core consisting of 59 fuel assemblies and six withdrawn control rods; the measured excess reactivity with all 16 control rods withdrawn is 9.7%. Two alternate control rod withdrawal programs are possible for ETR operation and the ETR safety rod shutdown response with both programs was studied. Reactor period measurements show that the worth of the upper portions of the safety rods is signicantly greater for the single rod withdrawal program than for the gnnged withdrawal. A map of the maximum thermal neutron flux at current ETR operating power of 80 Mw is reported and presents flux information for fuel elements, lattice facilities and the beryllium reflector, MTR-ETR Developments. The new cylindrical MTR shim rod magnet was standardized. Four cylindrical magnets are currently in use and sre outstanding in their performance; the remaining three rectangular magnets will be replaced as soon as shutdown and maintenance schedules permit. The reactor transfer function of the MTR 20%-enriched-U loading was measured experimentally; the experimental behavior of the loading is essentially the same as the calculated behavior of the 93%-enriched loading. Detailed experimental statistical weight information for both fuel and poison was developed for the ETR core and its experimental facilities; the variation in slatisical weight even within the same reactor region is very marked. The stability of the ETR and its associated heat dissipution system is being studied employing a transfer-function analysis; the reactor core transfer function and the feedback transfer function based on thermal effects and transport delays have been developed. RMF measurements with 33 samples from different beats of ETR fuel core material reveals that the boron contest varied from 0.05 to 0.58 weight % and U contant varied from 14.8 to 16.3 weight %. Reactor Physics and Engineering. A generalized IBM 650 program was developed for computing the transport approximations (P/sub 1/ and P/sub 3/)) of the local flux distributions in slab geometry; the routine is written to accommodate three-region problems. An application of this program to a fuel assembly problem reveals that the local flux variation predicted by the P/sub 3/ approximation is significantly greater than that predicted by the P/sub 1/ approximation. Thorium irradiation calculations show that the ultimate U/sup 233/ content is negligibly affected by cycling for periods of the order of an MTR cycle; therefore, thorium is attractive as a monitoring material because the measured change in reactivity is dependent primarily on the accumulated dosage. A concept and engineering design for a Cow Production Reactor were developed, The primary design objective is set by the requirement at the reactor operating at a nominal power of 60 Mw produces at least 100,000 < annually of Co/sup 60/ having a minimum specific activity of 50 c per g. A square reactor core arrangement having a central hole was selected, and Co/sup 59/ control rods are used. The design employs blankets of relatively low cobalt content for the production of high specific activity material and an outer blanket of high cobalt content to minimize loss of neutrons from the reactor. The estimated annual Co/sup 60/ production is 3,200,000 c of which 330,000 c have a
- Research Organization:
- Phillips Petroleum Co. Atomic Energy Div., Idaho Falls, Idaho
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(10-1)-205
- NSA Number:
- NSA-12-015788
- OSTI ID:
- 4321236
- Report Number(s):
- IDO-16436
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-58
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ABSORPTION- BACKGROUND- BERYLLIUM- COINCIDENCE METHODS- CROSS SECTIONS- FILTERS- MEASURED VALUES- NEUTRON BEAMS- NEUTRONS- OSCILLOGRAPHS- POTASSIUM- SODIUM- STRONTIUM- VELOCITY- YTTRIUM
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BORON- ETR- FUELS- MEASURED VALUES- REA