skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Fresh-Core Reload of the Neutron Radiography (NRAD) Reactor with Uranium(20)-Erbium-Zirconium-Hydride Fuel

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1126746· OSTI ID:1126746

The neutron radiography (NRAD) reactor is a 250 kW TRIGA® (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) Mark II , tank-type research reactor currently located in the basement, below the main hot cell, of the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It is equipped with two beam tubes with separate radiography stations for the performance of neutron radiography irradiation on small test components. The 60-fuel-element operational core configuration of the NRAD LEU TRIGA reactor has been evaluated as an acceptable benchmark experiment. The initial critical configuration developed during the fuel loading process, which contains only 56 fuel elements, has not been evaluated as it is very similar to the evaluated core configuration. The benchmark eigenvalue is 1.0012 ± 0.0029. Calculated eigenvalues differ significantly (~±1%) from the benchmark eigenvalue and have demonstrated sensitivity to the thermal scattering treatment of hydrogen in the U-Er-Zr-H fuel.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1126746
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-10-19486
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English