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U.S. Department of Energy
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FFTF Initial Fuel Loading, Pre-Analyses, and Comparison with Preliminary Results

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6987740

Disadvantages of conventional loading from the center out were circumvented by loading one trisector at a time, and connecting the control rod drivelines in each sector after it was loaded so that the rods could be operated during the loading of subsequent trisectors. This sequence was interrupted once during the loading of the final sector, to achieve initial criticality at an approximately minimum critical loading and to measure absolute subcriticality by the rod drop technique. An in-core detector was preferable to the standard FTR ex-core detectors for monitoring the initial fuel loading. Consequently, special fission chambers were installed in an instrument thimble near the core center to monitor the initial fuel loading.

Research Organization:
Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
DOE Contract Number:
AC14-76FF02170
OSTI ID:
6987740
Report Number(s):
HEDL-SA-2104-S; CONF-800942-18
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English