Abstract
A TRIGA Dual Core Reactor System has been chosen by the Romanian Government as the heart of a new fuel development facility which will be operated by the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Technologies. The Facility, which will be operational in 1976, is an integral part of the Romanian National Program for Power Reactor Development, with particular emphasis being placed on fuel development. The unique combination of a new 14 MW steady state TRIGA reactor, and the well-proven TRIGA Annular Core Pulsing Reactor (ACPR) in one below-ground reactor pool resulted in a substantial construction cost savings and gives the facility remarkable experimental flexibility. The inherent safety of the TRIGA fuel elements in both reactor cores means that a secondary containment building is not necessary, resulting in further construction cost savings. The 14 MW steady state reactor gives acceptably high neutron fluxes for long- term testing of various prototype fuel-cladding-coolant combinations; and the TRIGA ACPR high pulse capability allows transient testing of fuel specimens, which is so important for accurate prediction of the performance of power reactor fuel elements under postulated failure conditions. The 14 MW steady state reactor has one large and three small in-core irradiation loop positions, two large irradiation
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Citation Formats
Middleton, A, and Law, G C.
A complete fuel development facility utilizing a dual core TRIGA reactor system.
United States: N. p.,
1974.
Web.
Middleton, A, & Law, G C.
A complete fuel development facility utilizing a dual core TRIGA reactor system.
United States.
Middleton, A, and Law, G C.
1974.
"A complete fuel development facility utilizing a dual core TRIGA reactor system."
United States.
@misc{etde_21217754,
title = {A complete fuel development facility utilizing a dual core TRIGA reactor system}
author = {Middleton, A, and Law, G C}
abstractNote = {A TRIGA Dual Core Reactor System has been chosen by the Romanian Government as the heart of a new fuel development facility which will be operated by the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Technologies. The Facility, which will be operational in 1976, is an integral part of the Romanian National Program for Power Reactor Development, with particular emphasis being placed on fuel development. The unique combination of a new 14 MW steady state TRIGA reactor, and the well-proven TRIGA Annular Core Pulsing Reactor (ACPR) in one below-ground reactor pool resulted in a substantial construction cost savings and gives the facility remarkable experimental flexibility. The inherent safety of the TRIGA fuel elements in both reactor cores means that a secondary containment building is not necessary, resulting in further construction cost savings. The 14 MW steady state reactor gives acceptably high neutron fluxes for long- term testing of various prototype fuel-cladding-coolant combinations; and the TRIGA ACPR high pulse capability allows transient testing of fuel specimens, which is so important for accurate prediction of the performance of power reactor fuel elements under postulated failure conditions. The 14 MW steady state reactor has one large and three small in-core irradiation loop positions, two large irradiation loop positions adjacent to the core face, and twenty small holes in the beryllium reflector for small capsule irradiation. The power level of 14 MW will yield peak unperturbed thermal neutron fluxes in the central experiment position approaching 3.0 x 10{sup 14} n/cm{sup 2}-sec. The ACPR has one large dry central experimental cavity which can be loaded at pool level through a shielded offset loading tube; a small diameter in-core flux trap; and an in-core pneumatically-operated capsule irradiation position. A peak pulse of 15,000 MW will yield a peak fast neutron flux in the central experimental cavity of about 1.5 x 10{sup 17} n/cm{sup 2}-sec. The pulse width at half maximum during a 15,000 MW peak pulse is about 4 msec with an integrated flux of 1.5 x 10{sup 15} nvt. The experimental facilities include a tangential and a radial beam tube from each reactor leading to an adjacent underground beam room, an underwater neutron radiography system for radiography of irradiated fuel samples and an underwater graphite thermal column. A hot cell complex for post-irradiation examination of fuel specimens is connected directly to the reactor pool by a transfer canal, permitting transfer of radioactive specimens without the need for shielded casks. The facility also has many small laboratories for preparing, analyzing, and setting up experiments. Thus, although the prime purpose of the Dual-Core TRIGA Reactor Facility is to develop power reactor fuel elements, the facility is also well-equipped for research in other areas. An extensive neutron physics program (neutron beam physics, neutron radiography and neutron physics using the thermal column) will be possible at the same time as the reactors are being used to irradiate and test fuel samples. (author)}
place = {United States}
year = {1974}
month = {Jul}
}
title = {A complete fuel development facility utilizing a dual core TRIGA reactor system}
author = {Middleton, A, and Law, G C}
abstractNote = {A TRIGA Dual Core Reactor System has been chosen by the Romanian Government as the heart of a new fuel development facility which will be operated by the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Technologies. The Facility, which will be operational in 1976, is an integral part of the Romanian National Program for Power Reactor Development, with particular emphasis being placed on fuel development. The unique combination of a new 14 MW steady state TRIGA reactor, and the well-proven TRIGA Annular Core Pulsing Reactor (ACPR) in one below-ground reactor pool resulted in a substantial construction cost savings and gives the facility remarkable experimental flexibility. The inherent safety of the TRIGA fuel elements in both reactor cores means that a secondary containment building is not necessary, resulting in further construction cost savings. The 14 MW steady state reactor gives acceptably high neutron fluxes for long- term testing of various prototype fuel-cladding-coolant combinations; and the TRIGA ACPR high pulse capability allows transient testing of fuel specimens, which is so important for accurate prediction of the performance of power reactor fuel elements under postulated failure conditions. The 14 MW steady state reactor has one large and three small in-core irradiation loop positions, two large irradiation loop positions adjacent to the core face, and twenty small holes in the beryllium reflector for small capsule irradiation. The power level of 14 MW will yield peak unperturbed thermal neutron fluxes in the central experiment position approaching 3.0 x 10{sup 14} n/cm{sup 2}-sec. The ACPR has one large dry central experimental cavity which can be loaded at pool level through a shielded offset loading tube; a small diameter in-core flux trap; and an in-core pneumatically-operated capsule irradiation position. A peak pulse of 15,000 MW will yield a peak fast neutron flux in the central experimental cavity of about 1.5 x 10{sup 17} n/cm{sup 2}-sec. The pulse width at half maximum during a 15,000 MW peak pulse is about 4 msec with an integrated flux of 1.5 x 10{sup 15} nvt. The experimental facilities include a tangential and a radial beam tube from each reactor leading to an adjacent underground beam room, an underwater neutron radiography system for radiography of irradiated fuel samples and an underwater graphite thermal column. A hot cell complex for post-irradiation examination of fuel specimens is connected directly to the reactor pool by a transfer canal, permitting transfer of radioactive specimens without the need for shielded casks. The facility also has many small laboratories for preparing, analyzing, and setting up experiments. Thus, although the prime purpose of the Dual-Core TRIGA Reactor Facility is to develop power reactor fuel elements, the facility is also well-equipped for research in other areas. An extensive neutron physics program (neutron beam physics, neutron radiography and neutron physics using the thermal column) will be possible at the same time as the reactors are being used to irradiate and test fuel samples. (author)}
place = {United States}
year = {1974}
month = {Jul}
}