Research Reactor Core Conversion Guidebook Vol 5 [Operations] (IAEA TECDOC-643v5)

145 Pages·1992·6.382 MB·English

IAEA-TECDOC-643
Research reactor
core conversion guidebook
Volume 5: Operations
(Appendices L-N)
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY /A>
RESEARCH REACTOR CORE CONVERSION GUIDEBOOK
VOLUME 5: OPERATIONS (APPENDICES L-N)
IAEA, VIENNA, 1992
IAEA-TECDOC-643
ISSN 1011-4289
Printed by the IAEA in Austria
April 1992
FOREWORD
In view of the proliferation concerns caused by the use of highly
enriched uranium (HEU) and in anticipation that the supply of HEU to research
and test reactors will be more restricted in the future, this guidebook has
been prepared to assist research reactor operators in addressing the safety
d nlaicensing issr uocefos nversi footn heir reactoUrE H cfoor eessu ferhotm
fuel to the use of low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel.
Two previous guidebooks on research reactor core conversion have been
publishede ht yb IAEA.e hT first guidebook (IAEA-TECDOC-233) addressed
feasibility studies and fuel development potential for light-water-moderated
research reactors and the second guidebook (IAEA-TECDOC-324) addressed these
r tohopefiacv sy-water-moderated research reactors. This guidebn oiofik v,e
volumes, addresses the effects of changes in the safety-related parameters of
mixed cores and the converted core. It provides an information base which
should enable the appropriate approvals processes for implementation of a
specific conversion proposal, whether for a light or for a heavy water
moderated research reactoe br go,tr eatly facilitated.
This guidebook has been prepared at a number of Technical Committee
Meetings and Consultants Meetings and coordinated by the Physics Section of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, with contributions volunteeryebd
different organizations. The IAEA is grateful for these contributions and
thae nhektxs perts e fhrvtoamr ious organizatir oopfnrs epa erhidtneg tailed
investigations and for evaluating and summarizing the results.
EDITORIAL NOTE
n pIreparing this me phart eteeIh snrrsttio,ea ffrl sontaaf ftional Atomic Energy Agency have
mounted and paginated the original manuscripts and given some attention to presentation.
The views expressedt on od necessarily reflect those ofe ht governments ofe ht Member Statesro
organizations under whose auspices the manuscripts were produced.
The use in this book of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any
jude pghe uetlhbme yltgei basone lhI t theAs trtsEa ,aAtu ,s of such countrr itoees rritories, of their
authord ii entnidhaesetts li itfmuotii toraontf is oothn eir boundaries.
The mentionf o specific companiesf o ro their productsr o brand names doest on implyyna
endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA.
This text was compiled before the unification of Germany in October 1990. Therefore the names
German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany have been retained.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT
E MHTIAS FSLOILN G PAGN ETISH IS DOCUMENT
WERE ORIGINALLY BLANK
PREFACE
Volume5 consistf so detailed Appendices L-N, which containa varietfyo
useful infe oohrptmea rtnaitof oi ronoe nsearch reactors with reduced enrich-
ment fuels. Summaries of these appendices can be found in Chapters 12-14 of
Volu 1m( eSUMMARf Yto h)is guidebook. AppendL ic xontaia n ssummfaor y
necessary and recommended experiments for reactor startup. Appendix M pro-
vie deprshd o ectinxenpdf aeuorrf rin emsesaoenotvcie e orsanl reactor opera-
tors with bothd mfniuaxlel d cores with reduced enrichment fuels. AppenNdi x
contains information no transportatiof no both fresd nhas pent fuel elements,
n ospenS tDU e fpeuahertlt mf senEotnono t errdagngyae' ,s recd enfiiapn tan-
cial settlement provisions for nuclear research reactor fuels.
e hTtopics whie craah ddressen idV o elhuat mp,5pe endicen isw hich
detailed e shiuntme fm fobaord rumnynnaa dta ic,coh anpetn reViroa ls u1m e
listed below.
VOLUME 1
VOLUME 5 SUMMARY
Topic _A_PP_ENDIX Chapter
Startup ExperLiments 12
Experience with Mixed and Full Core Operation M 13
Transportation, Spent Fuel Storage,
and Reprocessing N 14
CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS
LNA Argonne National Laborato ry United States of America
Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories CRNL Canada
Commissariat a I'Energie Atomique CEA France
GA Technologies Inc. 6A United Statf eoAs merica
GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH GKSS Federal Republf IoGc ermany
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute JAERI Japan
Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute KURRI Japan
Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN Netherlands
k aORidge National Laboratory ORNL United Staf tAoem serica
Österreichisches Forschungszentrum Selbersdorf ÖFZS Austria
NT Transnuklear GmbH Federal R feoGp eucrbIm lany
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority UKAEA United Kingdom
University of Michigan - Ford Nuclear Reactor FNR United States of America
U.S. Departmentf o Energy USDOE United States of America
The IAEA Is grateful for the contributions volunteered by these organizations and thanks
their expert rosfp reparine hgtd etailed Investigatir oofe ndvnsa aluatin dngas ummarizinehgt
results presen ntIthei ds Guidebook.
CONTENTS
APPENDIX L. STARTUP EXPERIMENTS
L-l. GKSS: Startup experiments with reduced enrichment fuels..................................... 11
W. Krull
APPENDIX. M EXPERIENCE WITH MIXED DNFA ULL CORE OPERATION
Mixed cores
M-l. CRNL: CRNL experience with research reactor fuel conversion and
mixed core operation ..............................................................................9.1....
R.D. Graham
M-2.ÖFZS: Experience with mixed cores in the ASTRA reactor .................................. 25
. JCosta
M-3.KURRI: HEU-MEU mixed core experiments in the KUCA .................................. 39
. KKanda. S, Shiroya .M,H ayash. iK, Kobayashi. T,S hibata
M-4.ORNLe /tAhraNTnLsi :tie owhnh top lhfeao-sce ore demonstrattiaon
thek aO Ridge Research Reactor ....................................................................15
. WH .Rob. MbBMs,r etscher, R.J. Cornelia, J.L. Snelgrove
Full cores
M-5.FNR: Operational wiemonplrai cfcohtsm ent uranium fuel conversnioon
the Ford Nuclear Reactor ............................................................................. 67
R.R. Burn
M-6.JAERI: FulU l fucEeoMlr e demonse tJrhaMtt inToinR ................................3.7.....
M. Sait. oYN, agaok. SaS, himakaw. FaN, akayam. RaO, yamad. YaO, kamoto
APPENDIX .N TRANSPORTATION, SPENT FUEL STORAGED NRA, EPROCESSING
N-l. Transportatif oofnr esh fuel elements
N-l.l. TN: Transportation of MTR fuel elements within the
Federal Republic of Germany .............................................................. 85
N-l.2. KURRI: Transportation of fresh fuel elements for Japanese
research reactors .............................................................................. 93
. K Kanda, .Y Nakagome
N-1.3. UKAEA: The UKAEA unirradiated fuel transport containers ....................... 95
R. Panter
N-1.4. GA: Transportation of unirradiated TRIGA-LEU fuel ................................ 97
N-2. Transportaf tsioopne nt fuel elements
N-2.1. GKe Str: Sh aRntes mpnoaorrtkaf stsoipoen nt fuel elements ............9...9....... .
W. Krull
N-2.2. TN: Transnuklear spent fuel shipping containers ....................................... 103
N-2.3. UKAEA: UKAEA's 'UNIFETCH' irradiated fuel transport containers .......7.0.1..
R. Panter
N-2.4. CEA: The transport of spent fuel elements of research reactors .................... 113
N-2.5. GA: Transportation of irradiated TRIGA-LEU fuel ................................... 117
N-3. Spent fuel storage
N-3.1. ANL: Nuclear criticU afEluieHtyl deanlsaesm eUseEsnmLt efsnotto rage 9.1.1..
R.B. Pond, J.E. Mates
N-3.2. KURRI: Fresh fuel storage ........................................................7..3..1.....
Y. Nakagome, K. Kanda, T. Shibata
N-3.3. ECN: Spent fuel storage ..................................................................... 143
E.G. Mérelle,A. Tas
N-4. USDOE: Recd efniipant ancial settlement provisio ronnfus clear research
reactor fuels .............................................................................................. 149
Appendix L
STARTUP EXPERIMENTS