Neutron Radiography Reactor Reactivity -- Focused Lessons Learned

Woolstenhulme, Eric ; Damiana, Randal ; Schreck, Kenneth ; Phillips, Ann Marie ; Hewit, Dana

Idaho National Laboratory

关键词: Safety Nrad;    Neutron Radiography;    Documentation;    11 Nuclear Fuel Cycle And Fuel Materials;    Highly Enriched Uranium;   

DOI  :  10.2172/993542
RP-ID  :  INL/EXT-10-20453
RP-ID  :  DE-AC07-05ID14517
RP-ID  :  993542

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

As part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, the Neutron Radiography Reactor (NRAD) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was converted from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. After the conversion, NRAD resumed operations and is meeting operational requirements. Radiography image quality and the number of images that can be produced in a given time frame match pre-conversion capabilities. However, following the conversion, NRAD’s excess reactivity with the LEU fuel was less than it had been with the HEU fuel. Although some differences between model predictions and actual performance are to be expected, the lack of flexibility in NRAD’s safety documentation prevented adjusting the reactivity by adding more fuel, until the safety documentation could be modified. To aid future reactor conversions, a reactivity-focused Lessons Learned meeting was held. This report summarizes the findings of the lessons learned meeting and addresses specific questions posed by DOE regarding NRAD’s conversion and reactivity.