Education and Training at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Reactor Critical Facility

Conference · Sun Jun 04 04:00:00 EDT 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:6852220

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Reactor Critical Facility (RCF) has provided hands-on education and training for RPI and other students for almost a quarter of a century. The RCF was built in the 1950s by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) as a critical facility in which to carry out experiments in support of the Army Package power Reactor (APPR) program. A number of APPRs were built and operated. In the middle 1960s, ALCO went out of business and provided the facility to RPI. Since that time, RPI has operated the RCF primarily in a teaching mode in the nuclear engineering department, although limited amounts of reactor research, activation analysis, and reactivity assays have been carried out as well. Recently, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) upgrade program supported refueling the RCF with 4.81 wt% enriched UO₂ high-density pellets clad in stainless steel rods. The use of these SPERT (F1) fuel rods in the RCF provided a cost-effective approach to conversion from high-enrichment bombgrade fuel to low-enrichment fuel. More important, however, is the fact that the new fuel is of current interest for light waterpower reactors with extended lifetime fuel. Thus, not only are critical reactor experiments being carried out on the fuel but, more importantly, the quality of the education and training has been enhanced.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• OSTI ID: 6852220
• Report Number(s): CONF-890604--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Volume: 59
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
220600* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
American Locomotive Company (ALCO)
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CONTROL ROOMS
CRITICALITY
DOSES
EDUCATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
ENRICHED URANIUM
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUELS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE ENRICHED MATERIALS
ISOTOPES
KINETICS
LABORATORIES
MATERIALS
METALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MODIFICATIONS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEUTRON ABSORBERS
NEUTRON FLUX
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
OPERATION
POWER DISTRIBUTION
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION FLUX
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTIVITY
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORES
REACTOR KINETICS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR START-UP
REACTORS
RENSSELAER CRITICAL FACILITY
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Reactor Critical Facility (RCF)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
SECURITY
SHIELDING
SLIGHTLY ENRICHED URANIUM
START-UP
TRAINING
URANIUM
URANIUM 235
URANIUM ISOTOPES
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZERO POWER REACTORS