CHARACTERIZATION OF RADIOACTIVITY IN THE REACTOR VESSEL OF THE HEAVY WATER COMPONENT TEST REACTOR

Conference · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010

OSTI ID:979405

Vinson, Dennis

The Heavy Water Component Test Reactor (HWCTR) facility is a pressurized heavy water reactor that was used to test candidate fuel designs for heavy water power reactors. The reactor operated at nominal power of 50 MW{sub th}. The reactor coolant loop operated at 1200 psig and 250 C. Two isolated test loop were designed into the reactor to provide special test conditions. Fig. 1 shows a cut-away view of the reactor. The two loops are contained in four inch diameter stainless steel piping. The HWCTR was operated for only a short duration, from March 1962 to December 1964 in order to test the viability of test fuel elements and other reactor components for use in a heavy water power reactor. The reactor achieved 13,882 MWd of total power while testing 36 different fuel assemblies. In the course of operation, HWCTR experienced the cladding failures of 10 separate test fuel assemblies. In each case, the cladding was breached with some release of fuel core material into the isolated test loop, causing fission product and actinide contamination in the main coolant loop and the liquid and boiling test loops. Despite the contribution of the contamination from the failed fuel, the primary source of radioactivity in the HWCTR vessel and internals is the activation products in the thermal shields, and to a lesser degree, activation products in the reactor vessel walls and liner. A detailed facility characterization report of the HWCTR facility was completed in 1996. Many of the inputs and assumptions in the 1996 characterization report were derived from the HWCTR decommissioning plan published in 1975. The current paper provides an updated assessment of the radioisotopic characteristics of the HWCTR vessel and internals to support decommissioning activities on the facility.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 979405
• Report Number(s): SRNL-MS-2010-00088
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACTINIDES
BOILING
CONTAMINATION
COOLANT LOOPS
DECOMMISSIONING
DECONTAMINATION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAVY WATER
POWER REACTORS
RADIOACTIVITY
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR VESSELS
STAINLESS STEELS
TEST REACTORS
TESTING
THERMAL SHIELDS
VIABILITY