Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR) accident. A final report on the investigation of fission product chemical forms

The United States Department of Energy’s Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program will be irradiating up to nine low enriched uranium (LEU) tri-isotopic (TRISO) particle fuel (in compact form) experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The ATR has a long history of irradiation testing in support of reactor development and the INL has been designated as the United States Department of Energy’s lead laboratory for nuclear energy development. These irradiations and fuel development are being accomplished to support development of the next generation reactors in the United States, and the irradiations will be completed over the next five to six years to support demonstration and qualification of new TRISO coated particle fuel for use in high temperature gas reactors. The goals of the irradiation experiments are to provide irradiation performance data to support fuel process development, to qualify fuel for normal operating conditions, to support development and validation of fuel performance and fission product transport models and codes, and to provide irradiated fuel and materials for post irradiation examination (PIE) and safety testing. The experiments, which will each consist of multiple separate capsules, will be irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with individual on-line temperature monitoring and control of each capsule. The sweep gas will also have on-line fission product monitoring on its effluent to track performance of the fuel in each individual capsule during irradiation. The first experiment (designated AGR-1) started irradiation in December 2006 and completed a very successful irradiation in early November 2009. The second experiment (AGR-2) is currently being fabricated and assembled for insertion in the ATR in the early to mid calendar 2010. The design of test trains, the support systems and the fission product monitoring system used to monitor and control the experiment during irradiation will be discussed. In addition, the purpose and differences between the first two experiments will be compared, and updated information on the design and status of AGR-2 is provided. The preliminary irradiation results for the AGR-1 experiment are also presented.

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Installation and Final Testing of an On-Line, Multi-Spectrometer Fission Product Monitoring System (FPMS) to Support Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Testing and Qualification in the Advanced Test Reactor

2006 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record ◽

10.1109/nssmic.2006.356214 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

John K. Hartwell ◽

Dawn M. Scates ◽

Mark W. Drigert ◽

John B. Walter

Keyword(s):

Fission Product ◽

Monitoring System ◽

On Line ◽

Test Reactor

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Coupled Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis and Species Mass Transport in a Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) Using CTF

Journal of Nuclear Engineering ◽

10.3390/jne2030025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 309-317

Author(s):

Samuel A. Walker ◽

Abdalla Abou-Jaoude ◽

Zack Taylor ◽

Robert K. Salko ◽

Wei Ji

Keyword(s):

Mass Transfer ◽

Fission Product ◽

Noble Metals ◽

National Laboratory ◽

Species Interaction ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Two Fluids ◽

Gas System ◽

Fuel Salt ◽

Test Reactor

With the resurgence of interest in molten salt reactors, there is a need for new experiments and modeling capabilities to characterize the unique phenomena present in this fluid fuel system. A Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) is currently under investigation at Idaho National Laboratory to be placed in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). One of the key phenomena this proposed experiment plans to elucidate is fission product speciation in the fuel-salt and the subsequent effects this has on the fuel-salt properties, source term generation, and corrosion control. Specifically, noble gases (Xe & Kr) will bubble out to a plenum or off-gas system, and noble metals (Mo, Tc, Te, etc.) will precipitate and deposit in specific zones in the loop. This work extends the mass transfer and species interaction models in CTF (Coolant-Boiling in Rod Arrays—Two Fluids) and applies these models to give a preliminary estimation of fission product behavior in the proposed VESIL design. A noble metal–helium bubble mass transfer model is coupled with the thermal-hydraulic results from CTF to determine the effectiveness of this insoluble fission product (IFP) extraction method for VESIL. Amounts of IFP species extracted to the off-gas system and species distributions in VESIL after a 60-day ATR cycle are reported.

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Verification of Fission Product Release Model from High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor Fuel

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology ◽

10.1080/18811248.1992.9731603 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 29 (9) ◽

pp. 842-850 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Kazuhiro SAWA ◽

Shusaku SHIOZAWA ◽

Kousaku FUKUDA ◽

Yoshinori ICHIHASHI

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

Fission Product ◽

Reactor Fuel ◽

Product Release ◽

Test Reactor ◽

Release Model

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Status of the Combined Third and Fourth NGNP Fuel Irradiations in the Advanced Test Reactor

Volume 2: Plant Systems, Construction, Structures and Components; Next Generation Reactors and Advanced Reactors ◽

10.1115/icone21-16497 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

S. Blaine Grover ◽

David A. Petti ◽

Michael E. Davenport

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Fission Product ◽

National Laboratory ◽

The United States ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

United States Department ◽

Next Generation ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

On Line ◽

Test Reactor

The United States Department of Energy’s Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program is irradiating up to seven low enriched uranium (LEU) tri-isotopic (TRISO) particle fuel (in compact form) experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These irradiations and fuel development are being accomplished to support development of the next generation reactors in the United States. The experiments will be irradiated over the next several years to demonstrate and qualify new TRISO coated particle fuel for use in high temperature gas reactors. The goals of the experiments are to provide irradiation performance data to support fuel process development, to qualify fuel for normal operating conditions, to support development and validation of fuel performance and fission product transport models and codes, and to provide irradiated fuel and materials for post irradiation examination (PIE) and safety testing. The experiments, which will each consist of several independent capsules, will be irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with individual on-line temperature monitoring and control of each capsule. The sweep gas will also have on-line fission product monitoring on its effluent to track performance of the fuel in each individual capsule during irradiation. The first experiment (designated AGR-1) started irradiation in December 2006 and was completed in November 2009. The second experiment (AGR-2) started irradiation in June 2010 and is currently scheduled to be completed in September 2013. The third and fourth experiments have been combined into a single experiment designated (AGR-3/4), which started its irradiation in December 2011 and is currently scheduled to be completed in April 2014. Since the purpose of this combined experiment is to provide data on fission product migration and retention in the NGNP reactor, the design of this experiment is significantly different from the first two experiments, though the control and monitoring systems are extremely similar. The design of the experiment will be discussed followed by its progress and status to date.

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