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Title: KRUSTY Experiment: Reactivity Insertion Accident Analysis

Journal Article · · Nuclear Technology
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Atkins Nuclear Secured, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  3. Mission Support and Test Services, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The centerpiece of the Kilopower Project, i.e., the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) test, consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstration of a small fission power system based on a 1-kW(electric) space science power requirement. The KRUSTY test was authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office. Authorization was obtained by adding an amendment to the existing regulatory documents for the National Criticality Experiments Research Center to cover the KRUSTY experiment. This amendment was reviewed and approved by the DOE. The most important safety question for the experiment was the addition of over 2 $ of excess reactivity to the reactor system. This amount of excess reactivity meant that the analyst could postulate accidents where the reactor went prompt critical, leading to physical shock or melting of the fuel. This paper analyzes these accidents using computer calculations and examines the controls used to mitigate them. The estimation of the impacts both on accident progression and consequences of reactivity insertion events was a significant part of obtaining approval for the KRUSTY experiment. The regulatory approval of KRUSTY was one of the first to be obtained for a completely new reactor concept in many decades.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1648083
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-28643; TRN: US2202805
Journal Information:
Nuclear Technology, Vol. 206, Issue sup1; ISSN 0029-5450
Publisher:
Taylor & FrancisCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (3)

FRINK — A Code to Evaluate Space Reactor Transients conference January 2007
ORIGEN2: A Versatile Computer Code for Calculating the Nuclide Compositions and Characteristics of Nuclear Materials journal September 1983
Results of the KRUSTY Warm Critical Experiments journal June 2020

Figures / Tables (11)

Fig. 1(p. 4)figure Fig. 1
Fig. 2(p. 6)figure Fig. 2
Fig. 3(p. 6)figure Fig. 3
Fig. 4(p. 7)figure Fig. 4
TABLE I(p. 8)table TABLE I
Fig. 5(p. 9)figure Fig. 5
Fig. 6(p. 10)figure Fig. 6
Fig. 7(p. 10)figure Fig. 7
Fig. 8(p. 11)figure Fig. 8
TABLE II(p. 12)table TABLE II
TABLE III(p. 13)table TABLE III

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Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Integral Experiments
Kilopower project
KRUSTY
space reactor
accident analysis
reactivity insertion