EBR-II cover-gas cleanup system upgrade

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5882456

Staffon, J D; Carlson, R B ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab., Idaho Falls (United States)

Technology advances in the past few years have prompted an effort at Argonne National Laboratory to replace existing equipment with high-performance digital computers and color-graphic displays. Improved operation of process systems can be achieved by utilizing state-of-the-art computer technology in the areas of process control and process monitoring. The cover-gas cleanup system (CGCS) at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) is the first system to be upgraded with high-performance digital equipment. The upgrade consisted of a main control computer, a distributed control computer, a front-end input/output computer, a main graphics interface terminal, and a remote graphics interface terminal. This paper describes the main control computer and the operator interface control software. Argonne National Laboratory's EBR-II is a pool-type nuclear reactor demonstration facility that uses liquid sodium as the primary system and secondary system coolant. The primary system tank contains [approximately]330000 [ell] of liquid sodium blanketed with an argon cover gas. Despite this inert atmosphere, the primary system requires a cover-gas monitoring and cleanup system, the CGCS. The CGCS maintains low levels of impurities in the cover gas so that even small levels of impurities can be detected to flag a failed fuel element and to support mass spectrometer analysis to identify a failed fuel element. Impurities can be introduced to the argon cover gas by the failure of fuel element cladding and the subsequent release of gaseous fission products or xenon [open quotes]tag gas[close quotes] placed in the fuel elements for the purpose of signaling a fuel element breach. The CGCS consists of a main cleanup loop and a gas analysis system.

• OSTI ID: 5882456
• Report Number(s): CONF-930601--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 68
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
220600* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
BREEDER REACTORS
COMPUTER OUTPUT DEVICES
COMPUTER-GRAPHICS DEVICES
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
COMPUTERS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
DISPLAY DEVICES
EBR-2 REACTOR
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
HOT GAS CLEANUP
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
ON-LINE CONTROL SYSTEMS
ON-LINE SYSTEMS
POWER REACTORS
PURIFICATION
REACTORS
RELIABILITY
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RETROFITTING
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT