Status Report for NEET In-Pile Sensor Irradiation Capabilities at TREAT
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
The recently-established in-pile sensor development project under the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology (NEET) program is focused on the development of measurement technologies to enable acquisition of data focused on the performance, properties, and boundary conditions of nuclear fuels/materials under irradiation in nuclear reactors. These sensors can be used in steady state irradiation tests to measure parameters of interest under conditions representing normal nuclear plant operation, or in transient irradiation tests to determine specimen performance under postulated unplanned conditions. In either case, development of suitable sensor technologies must include instrument irradiations to help guide sensor material/design selection, verify instrument performance, and demonstrate deployment viability. The Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT) while just a part of the overall capabilities portfolio needed to enable this sensor development mission, has unique capabilities and characteristics that make it well poised for a number of instrument irradiation data objectives including sensor survivability screening, response characterization, qualification tests, and in-situ properties measurements. TREAT’s brilliantly-basic design, when married with appropriate irradiation hardware and analytic capabilities, fills a crucial capability gap between out-of-pile testing and irradiation in steady state high power research reactors. Leveraging a recently developed approach to irradiation testing in TREAT, the present work demonstrates that cost-effective and scientifically-impactful instrument irradiation capabilities for TREAT are a well-placed capability in the NEET in-pile sensor development project.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1472112
- Report Number(s):
- INL/EXT-17-43274-Rev000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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