Advanced test reactor

Atkinson. S. A., 1996, PSA-Operations Synergisms for Advanced Test Reactor Shutdown Operations PSA, Proceeding of the Int ——1 Topical Meeting on Probabilisl ety Assessment, Park City, Utah, pp 600-6 29-Oct. 3. 

Atkinson, S. A. et al, 1993, Advanced Test Reactor Probabilistic Risk Assessment, Pr<... 

Eide, S. A. et al., 1990a, Advanced Test Reactor Level 1 Probabilistic Risk Assessment, ANS Topical Meeting, The Safety, Status, and Future of Non-Commercial tors and Irradiation Facilities, Boise ID, Sept. 31 - October 4,1990. 

Table 7 shows the results of electrical resistivity measurements for five insulator materials irradiated heavily at 325 K in the Advanced Test Reactor [65]. Irradiation conditions were the same as those for mechanical tests mentioned in the preceding section. The remarkable decreases of resistivity were observed in both G-10 and G-ll CR which were made with E-glass cloth. The other three specimens containing S-glass cloth showed fairly good tolerance of electrical resistivity to radiation. 

DURNEY, J.L., CROUCHER, D.W., "Replacement of core components in the advanced test reactor", Proc. Int. Symp. on Research Reactor Safety, Operations and Modifications, Vol. 2, AECL-9926, Chalk River (1989). 

Stanley, C.J., Marshall, F.M., 2008. Advanced test reactor — a national scientific user facility. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-16), May 11-15, Orlando, FL, USA. 

The traditional fabrication methods for the alu-minide fuels are fairly simple. The fuel fabrication waste volumes can be minimized. Several variations of the fabrication method of the aluminide fuel form have been successfully applied to produce Pu-Al composite fuel elements. Plutonium fabrication facilities currently exist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site. These facilities could be used to produce Pu-Al composite fuel elements in sufficient quantities to verify fuel designs and prove the fuel performance. The Advanced Test Reactor at the INEL could be used to test these fuels. 

A considerable amount of operating experience with U-Al fuels in aluminum and aluminum alloy cladding exists. This should be at least partially applicable to the Pu-Al fuels. The maximum bumup level expected with Pu-Al fuels without a recycle step is based on the performance of U-Al fuel plates irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor. This bumup level (70% FIMA) is based on fuel element swelling and fission product release limitations in a thin plate geometry under conditions of high fission rates. More robust geometries might be fissioned to safe bumup levels in excess of 90%. Burnable poisons have been added to U-Al fuel plates with little difficulty, so burnable poisons could probably be added to a Pu-Al fuel form. 

The recommended core exit pressure of 0.2 MPa is attainable by assuming the uppermost elevation of the coolant loops is at atmospheric pressure, with the static head of the coolant loops, elevated about 10 m above the core, providing the difference. The core inlet temperature, 325 K, is achievable based on Advanced Test Reactor experience, and the core outlet temperature, 347 K, is based on the core geometry of a commercial PWR. The average core fuel rod heat flux... 

Table E-3. Comparison of thermal-hydraulic parameters for a low-pressure and temperature plutonium-burning reactor, a commercial pressurized water reactor, and the Advanced Test Reactor.

Plutonium burner Pressurized water reactor Advanced Test Reactor... 

Test Pronnetheus conditions of AT, tennperature, and fission rate in Advanced Test Reactor (ATR)... 

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