Enhanced Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Element for the Advanced Test Reactor

Enhanced Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Element for the Advanced Test Reactor PDF Author:
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ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Under the current US Department of Energy (DOE) policy and planning scenario, the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and its associated critical facility (ATRC) will be reconfigured to operate on low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This effort has produced a conceptual design for an Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF) element. This fuel features monolithic U-10Mo fuel foils and aluminum cladding separated by a thin zirconium barrier. As with previous iterations of the ELF design, radial power peaking is managed using different U-10Mo foil thicknesses in different plates of the element. The lead fuel element design, ELF Mk1A, features only three fuel meat thicknesses, a reduction from the previous iterations meant to simplify manufacturing. Evaluation of the ELF Mk1A fuel design against reactor performance requirements is ongoing, as are investigations of the impact of manufacturing uncertainty on safety margins. The element design has been evaluated in what are expected to be the most demanding design basis accident scenarios and has met all initial thermal-hydraulic criteria.

Enhanced Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Element for the Advanced Test Reactor

Enhanced Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Element for the Advanced Test Reactor PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Under the current US Department of Energy (DOE) policy and planning scenario, the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and its associated critical facility (ATRC) will be reconfigured to operate on low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This effort has produced a conceptual design for an Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF) element. This fuel features monolithic U-10Mo fuel foils and aluminum cladding separated by a thin zirconium barrier. As with previous iterations of the ELF design, radial power peaking is managed using different U-10Mo foil thicknesses in different plates of the element. The lead fuel element design, ELF Mk1A, features only three fuel meat thicknesses, a reduction from the previous iterations meant to simplify manufacturing. Evaluation of the ELF Mk1A fuel design against reactor performance requirements is ongoing, as are investigations of the impact of manufacturing uncertainty on safety margins. The element design has been evaluated in what are expected to be the most demanding design basis accident scenarios and has met all initial thermal-hydraulic criteria.

Criticality Safety Evaluation for the Advanced Test Reactor Enhanced Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Elements

Criticality Safety Evaluation for the Advanced Test Reactor Enhanced Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Elements PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) convert program is developing a high uranium density fuel based on a low enriched uranium (LEU) uranium-molybdenum alloy. Testing of prototypic GTRI fuel elements is necessary to demonstrate integrated fuel performance behavior and scale-up of fabrication techniques. GTRI Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF) elements based on the ATR-Standard Size elements (all plates fueled) are to be fabricated for testing in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). While a specific ELF element design will eventually be provided for detailed analyses and in-core testing, this criticality safety evaluation (CSE) is intended to evaluate a hypothetical ELF element design for criticality safety purposes. Existing criticality analyses have analyzed Standard (HEU) ATR elements from which controls have been derived. This CSE documents analysis that determines the reactivity of the hypothetical ELF fuel elements relative to HEU ATR elements and whether the existing HEU ATR element controls bound the ELF element. The initial calculations presented in this CSE analyzed the original ELF design, now referred to as Mod 0.1. In addition as part of a fuel meat thickness optimization effort for reactor performance other designs have been evaluated. As of early 2014 the most current conceptual designs are Mk1A and Mk1B that were previously referred to as conceptual designs Mod 0.10 and Mod 0.11, respectively. Revision 1 evaluates the reactivity of the ATR HEU Mark IV elements for a comparison with the Mark VII elements.

Conversion of Research and Test Reactors to Low-enriched Uranium (LEU) Fuel

Conversion of Research and Test Reactors to Low-enriched Uranium (LEU) Fuel PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Subcommittee on Energy Development and Applications
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1968

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Book Description


Reactor Physics Methods and Preconceptual Core Design Analyses for Conversion of the Advanced Test Reactor to Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2012

Reactor Physics Methods and Preconceptual Core Design Analyses for Conversion of the Advanced Test Reactor to Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2012 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Under the current long-term DOE policy and planning scenario, both the ATR and the ATRC will be reconfigured at an appropriate time within the next several years to operate with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This will be accomplished under the auspices of the Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reactor (RERTR) Program, administered by the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). At a minimum, the internal design and composition of the fuel element plates and support structure will change, to accommodate the need for low enrichment in a manner that maintains total core excess reactivity at a suitable level for anticipated operational needs throughout each cycle while respecting all control and shutdown margin requirements and power distribution limits. The complete engineering design and optimization of LEU cores for the ATR and the ATRC will require significant multi-year efforts in the areas of fuel design, development and testing, as well as a complete re-analysis of the relevant reactor physics parameters for a core composed of LEU fuel, with possible control system modifications. Ultimately, revalidation of the computational physics parameters per applicable national and international standards against data from experimental measurements for prototypes of the new ATR and ATRC core designs will also be required for Safety Analysis Report (SAR) changes to support routine operations with LEU. This report is focused on reactor physics analyses conducted during Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 to support the initial development of several potential preconceptual fuel element designs that are suitable candidates for further study and refinement during FY-2013 and beyond. In a separate, but related, effort in the general area of computational support for ATR operations, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is conducting a focused multiyear effort to introduce modern high-fidelity computational reactor physics software and associated validation protocols to replace several obsolete components of the current analytical tool set used for ATR neutronics support. This aggressive computational and experimental campaign will have a broad strategic impact on the operation of the ATR, both in terms of improved computational efficiency and accuracy for support of ongoing DOE programs as well as in terms of national and international recognition of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF). It will also greatly facilitate the LEU conversion effort, since the upgraded computational capabilities are now at a stage where they can be, and in fact have been, used for the required physics analysis from the beginning. In this context, extensive scoping neutronics analyses were completed for six preconceptual candidate LEU fuel element designs for the ATR (and for its companion critical facility, ATRC). Of these, four exhibited neutronics performance in what is believed to be an acceptable range. However, there are currently some concerns with regard to fabricability and mechanical performance that have emerged for one of the four latter concepts. Thus three concepts have been selected for more comprehensive conceptual design analysis during the upcoming fiscal year.

10 CFR 830 Major Modification Determination for Advanced Test Reactor LEU Fuel Conversion

10 CFR 830 Major Modification Determination for Advanced Test Reactor LEU Fuel Conversion PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), located in the ATR Complex of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), was constructed in the 1960s for the purpose of irradiating reactor fuels and materials. Other irradiation services, such as radioisotope production, are also performed at ATR. The ATR is fueled with high-enriched uranium (HEU) matrix (UAlx) in an aluminum sandwich plate cladding. The National Nuclear Security Administration Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) strategic mission includes efforts to reduce and protect vulnerable nuclear and radiological material at civilian sites around the world. Converting research reactors from using HEU to low-enriched uranium (LEU) was originally started in 1978 as the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) Program under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Within this strategic mission, GTRI has three goals that provide a comprehensive approach to achieving this mission: The first goal, the driver for the modification that is the subject of this determination, is to convert research reactors from using HEU to LEU. Thus the mission of the ATR LEU Fuel Conversion Project is to convert the ATR and Advanced Test Reactor Critical facility (ATRC) (two of the six U.S. High-Performance Research Reactors [HPRR]) to LEU fuel by 2017. The major modification criteria evaluation of the project pre-conceptual design identified several issues that lead to the conclusion that the project is a major modification.

Medical Isotope Production Without Highly Enriched Uranium

Medical Isotope Production Without Highly Enriched Uranium PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309130395
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
This book is the product of a congressionally mandated study to examine the feasibility of eliminating the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU2) in reactor fuel, reactor targets, and medical isotope production facilities. The book focuses primarily on the use of HEU for the production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), whose decay product, technetium-99m3 (Tc-99m), is used in the majority of medical diagnostic imaging procedures in the United States, and secondarily on the use of HEU for research and test reactor fuel. The supply of Mo-99 in the U.S. is likely to be unreliable until newer production sources come online. The reliability of the current supply system is an important medical isotope concern; this book concludes that achieving a cost difference of less than 10 percent in facilities that will need to convert from HEU- to LEU-based Mo-99 production is much less important than is reliability of supply.

Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors

Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309379210
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The continued presence of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in civilian installations such as research reactors poses a threat to national and international security. Minimization, and ultimately elimination, of HEU in civilian research reactors worldwide has been a goal of U.S. policy and programs since 1978. Today, 74 civilian research reactors around the world, including 8 in the United States, use or are planning to use HEU fuel. Since the last National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on this topic in 2009, 28 reactors have been either shut down or converted from HEU to low enriched uranium fuel. Despite this progress, the large number of remaining HEU-fueled reactors demonstrates that an HEU minimization program continues to be needed on a worldwide scale. Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors assesses the status of and progress toward eliminating the worldwide use of HEU fuel in civilian research and test reactors.

Applications of Research Reactors

Applications of Research Reactors PDF Author: International Atomic Energy Agency
Publisher: International Atomic Energy Agency
ISBN: 9789201450104
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
This publication is a comprehensive study that reviews the current situation in a great number of applications of research reactors. It revises the contents of IAEA TECDOC-1234, The Applications of Research Reactors, giving detailed updates on each field of research reactor uses worldwide. Reactors of all sizes and capabilities can benefit from the sharing of current practices and research enabled via this updated version, which describes the requirements for practicing methods as diverse as neutron activation analysis, education and training, neutron scattering and neutron imaging, silicon doping and radioisotope production, material/fuel irradiation and testing, and some others. Many underutilised research reactors can learn how to diversify their technical capabilities, staff and potential commercial partners and users seeking research reactor services and products. The content of the publication has also been strengthened in terms of current issues facing the vast majority of research reactors by including sections describing user and customer relations as well as strategic planning considerations.

Irradiation Performance of Low-enriched Uranium Fuel Elements

Irradiation Performance of Low-enriched Uranium Fuel Elements PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The status of the testing and evaluation of full-sized experimental low- and medium-enriched uranium fuel elements in the Oak Ridge Research Reactor is presented. Medium-enriched elements containing oxide and aluminide have been completely evaluated at burnups up to 75%. A low-enriched U3Si2 element has been evaluated at 41% burnup. Other silicide and oxide elements have completed irradiation satisfactorily to burnups of 75% and are now being evaluated. All results to date confirm the expected good performance of these elements in the medium power research reactor environment.

Абхазия

Абхазия PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9785936804274
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 574

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Book Description