SPERT PROJECT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT, JULY-SEPTEMBER 1962
In the Spert I facility final preparations were made for destructive testing of a highly enriched, plate-type, watermoderated core. Several non- destructive excursion tests were performed to evaluate the performance of instrumentation to be used for the destructive test. Additional void coefficient measurements were performed to determine the effect of nonuniform void distributions on the void worth in the central region of the core. Analysis of data from the 4.6-msec-period excursion test performed last quarter was completed. In this test about 20% of the fuel plates in the core experienced melting over some portion of their length, but only about 3% of the total fuel plate surface area actually showed melting. Investigations of the effect of initial system temperature on the kinetic response of the D/sub 2/O-moderated, expanded- configuration core in Spert II were completed. The test series included seif- limiting power excursions with initial periods in the range from 5 sec to 40 msec at initial system temperatures of 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 deg C. The tests all were initiated by step-wise insertions of reactivity, and were conducted with no forced coolant flow and with the system pressure near atmospheric. The results of this series confirmed expectations that increasing initial system temperature causes a decrease in the peak power, burst energy, and fuel plate surface temperatures attained for a test with a given initial period. The increased dependence on steam formation for shutdown as subcooling is decreased leads to secondary power oscillations larger than those observed at ambient temperature. The presence of an expansion space in the reactor vessel was found to decrease the amplitude of the secondary power oscillations, increase the oscillation frequency, and decrease the magnitude of transient pressures produced. Operation of the Spert IV facility was begun in this quarter. An operational core loading comprised of 25 Spert type D fuel assemblies in a 5 x 5 array was found to have an excess reactivity of about 5.4 dollars. Measurements are being made of rod worths, flux distributions, and reactivity coefficients in preparation for performance of experimental studies of the stability of this core under various system conditions. A new computer program was written to improve the accuracy of calculations of reactivity based on observed power behavior during excursion tests. Metallurgical examinations were made of samples from two fuel plates from the core used in the 5-msec-period power excursion conducted last quarter in Spert I. Estimates were made of the temperatures reached by the plates, based on interpretation of photomicrographs. Investigation of corrosion observed on Al- clad fuel plates which were being stored under water indicated that the plates have an activated surface, probably caused by the stripping operation performed during fabrication of the plates. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Phillips Petroleum Co. Atomic Energy Div., Idaho Falls, Idaho
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(10-1)-205
- NSA Number:
- NSA-17-019580
- OSTI ID:
- 4704860
- Report Number(s):
- IDO-16829
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-63
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ACCIDENTS
ALUMINUM
CORROSION
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ENRICHMENT
EXCURSIONS
EXPANSION
FABRICATION
FREQUENCY
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAVY WATER MODERATOR
HIGH TEMPERATURE
INSTRUMENTS
LOW TEMPERATURE
MEASURED VALUES
MELTING
METALLURGY
NEUTRON FLUX
OPERATION
OSCILLATIONS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOGRAPHY
PLATES
POWER
PRESSURE
PRESSURE VESSELS
PROGRAMMING
REACTIVITY
REACTOR CORE
REACTORS
SHUTDOWN
SPERT-1
SPERT-1D
SPERT-2
SPERT-4
STABILITY
STEAM
TEMPERATURE
TESTING
TRANSIENTS
VARIATIONS
WATER MODERATOR
ZONES