Reduced enrichment neutronics evaluation for Texas A and M's TRIGA reactor

Conference · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:6023747

Rajalakshmi, M J; Reuscher, J A ^[1]

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1. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (USA)

The Texas A and M Nuclear Science Center reactor (NSCR) designed by General Atomics (GA) uses a fuel-life improvement program TRIGA fuel element. It is composed of 8.5 wt% uranium in U-ZrH{sub 1.6}-Er fuel with a {sup 235}U enrichment of 70 at.% and 1.5 wt% of erbium. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires that the enrichment not exceed 20 at.% for the next loading, provided the fuel is available. To meet this requirement GA has developed shrouded four-rod clusters using low-enriched U-ZrH{sub 1.6}-Er fuel for TRIGA cores operating at powers up to 2 MW. This fuel contains 20 wt% of uranium with an enrichment of 20 at.% and 0.5 wt% of erbium and a homogeneous mixture of hydrogen moderator. Thermal-hydraulic calculations show the feasibility of operating the NSCR at 2 MW. The objective of this study is to assess the ability of the NSCR to operate at 2 MW using the reduced-enrichment fuel. This study also covers a three-dimensional neutronics analysis of the NSCR core using the new fuel. Results obtained are compared with results obtained with another candidate fuel, BeO-UO{sub 2}-Er.

• OSTI ID: 6023747
• Report Number(s): CONF-900608--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 61
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
220700* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Plutonium & Isotope Production Reactors
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COMPUTER CODES
CONTROL ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENRICHED URANIUM
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUID MECHANICS
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL MANAGEMENT
HEAT TRANSFER
HEAVY NUCLEI
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
HYDRAULICS
HYDRIDE MODERATED REACTORS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE ENRICHED MATERIALS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
MECHANICS
METALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MODERATELY ENRICHED URANIUM
MODERATORS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NSCR REACTOR
NUCLEI
OPERATION
ORNL
PHYSICS
POOL TYPE REACTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORES
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR PHYSICS
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
S CODES
SAFETY
SOLID HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TRAINING REACTORS
TRIGA TYPE REACTORS
URANIUM
URANIUM 235
URANIUM ISOTOPES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES