Fuel Performance Studies
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Foreword The OECD Halden Reactor project is fuel, including mechanical deformations, an agreement between OECD member thermal behaviour, fission gas release, countries. It was first signed in 1958 and and corrosion. since then regularly renewed every third In the area of computer application, year. The activities at the Project is cen- the studies of the communication bet- tred around the Halden heavy water ween operator and process, and the sur- reactor, the HBWR. The research pro- veillance and control of the reactor core, gramme comprizes studies of fuel per- arc of particular interest for rcactor ope- formance under various operating condi- ration. tions, and the application of computers 1988 represents the 30th year since for process control. the Project was started, and this publica- The HBWR is equipped for exposing tion is produced to mark this event. It fuel rods to temperatures and pressures, contains a reprint of major part of the and at heat ratings met in modern BWR's publication produced at the 25th anni- and PWR's. A range of in-core instru- versary. In addition an account of the ments are available permitting detailed developments through the years 1983- measurements of the reactions of the 1988 is given. Contents J 958-83 HOW IT STARTED 1 ORGANIZATION OF THE PROJECT 5 Agreements 5 Steering Bodies " Staff 6 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW 7 FUEL PERFORMANCE STUDIES 10 Background 10 Fuel Rod Thermal Behaviour 11 Fuel Rod Mechanical Interaction 14 Fission Gas Release and Fuel Defection Studies 16 Loss of Coolant Experiments 19 COMPUTER CONTROL RESEARCH 21 Background History 21 The Computer Age 22 Present Activities 24 Operator Interfaces 24 Man-Machine Communication . 25 Highly Reliable Computer Systems 26 Software Reliability 28 Computerized Operator Manual for Reactor Safety Systems ... 28 Alarm Handling 29 Core Surveillance and Control 31 Computer Control Experimental Facility 32 FUEL RESEARCH FACILITIES 34 HBWR as a Fuel Test Facility 35 Fuel Handling and Inspection Equipment 36 Irradiation Rigs 38 In-Core Instruments 44 Test Fuel Data Bank System 48 1983-88 FUEL PERFORMANCE STUDIES 1983-88 49 Introduction 49 Fuel Rod Thermal Behaviour 49 Fission Product Release 50 Pellet Cladding McchanicaJ Interaction 51 Cyclic and Transient Operation 52 Extended Burnup Operation 52 COMPUTERIZED MAN-MACHINE COMMUNICATION 54 Introduction 54 Man-Machine Interaction Research 54 The Alarm Handling System HALO 54 The Success Path Monitoring System SPMS 55 System for Early Fault Detection 55 System for Plant Diagnosis 56 The Process Operator Station CAMPS 56 The Core Surveillance System SCORPIO 56 Training Simulator for Off-Shore Oil/Gas Production Platform . 57 The Power System Simulator SASIM 57 Control Room Design 57 The Computerized Procedure Manual System COPMA 58 Software Reliability 58 FUEL RESEARCH FACILITIES . 59 High Pressure Light Water Loops in HBWR 59 PWR Waterside Corrosion Test Loop 60 Automatic Control of Experimental Conditions 60 In-Core Instruments '.,. - 61 Irradiation Rigs - - - • 62 Test Fuel Data Aquisition and Processing 63 STEERING BODIES AND PROJECT STAFF ......... 64 How it started Cunnar Randers, astrophysicist by edu- cation, internationally recognized as a pioneer in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful applications, founder of the Norwegian Institute for Atomic Energy, ivas the key person behind the developments which resulted in the design and construction of the Halden Boiling Heavy Water Reactor and the establishing of the OEEC (later OECD) Halden Reactor Project in 195S. He has been hind enough to supply the editors of this publication with his own account of the events leading up to the successful international co-operation around the Haldcn Reactor: The Halden Reactor is truly a remarkable during the 25th year of the Halden Pro- water reactors by Dr. Zinn in the U.S.A. animal! It was planned, designed and ject, became the first leader of the neu- Within a couple of months the NUPOP under construction before any nuclear tron physics division at JENER). plans were replaced by a boiling heavy power rcactor had been built commer- After three years of operating the water concept, and the proposed Joint cially in the world. Today it is still an reactor JENER wanted to move forward Dutch - Norwegian project was replaced activc experimental station for advanced by building a power experiment with by a pure Norwegian project even studies of problems in nuclear power. high temperature and pressure. There after the original project had been in- It has therefore functioned during the was a gentlemen's agreement that this se- cluded in the budget proposal in 1955 in whole life of nuclear power production. cond reactor should be built in the Norway. The new project was, as men- It seems like using the first spinning Netherlands. The power level should be tioned, approved preliminarily on 14th machine from the industrial revolution at least 20,000 kVV at an operating tem- June 1955, but with a condition that the for experiments in textile production perature of at least 200°C. Since ura- detailed financial and technical plans today. nium was impossible to buy, and we had should be placed before the parliament The design and plans for construction only a few tons of natural uranium by the end of the year for the final go were placed before the Norwegian »Stor- (from the Netherlands' remaining store) ahead signal. ting» by the government on 14th June we had to build a heavy water reactor. The fall of 1955 became a hectic 1955 and preliminarily approved. Some The thought of risking boiling in the period of negotiations for arranging bar- of you will discover by using your heavy water led us to a variety of diffi- tering between U.K., the Netherlands, pocket calculator thaL this is three years cult designs from pressure tank to the U.S.A. and Norway of heavy water, too early to fit with todays 25 years organic cooling and beryllium oxide or uranium, fuel element production services anniversary. The reason is simple: We are aluminium oxide for cooling channels. and securing industrial participation in celebrating the silver wedding of Norway IF A and our wi/.x.ard engineer Odd Dahl Norway. Norsk Hydro, the heavy water and the countries participating in the settled in 1954 on a form of aluminium producing company in Norway, became OECD Halden Rcactor Project, but the foil around the cooling channels. It was our basic economic supporter. Saugbrug- Halden Rcactor is not a legitimate child called the NUPOI1 (natural uranium foreningen, the paper and pulp factory of that union. It was conceived and power only pile). But the Dutch wizzard in Halden, at the time considering nu- practically born before the wedding. Dr. Wendt then produced a series of clear energy for process steam supply, Maybe a few short words about the more exotic proposals like »slurry» provided the site. On the 4th November, prehistory are appropriate: reactors and »suspension» reactors. This the last day, we delivered the complete The Institute for Atomic Energy (IFA) resulted in a year of discussions and package to the minister of industry, and in Norway had put its first experimental indecision in the Netherlands. the government decided the same day to heavy water reactor in operation in 1951. In the meantime came the U.S-A.'s place it before parliament. Earlier that year, the Senior Dutch astro- Atoms for Peace programme in 1955,and Considering the unending bureaucracy phycisist H. Kramers had combined the Dutch decided to use the opportunity involved in such nuclear decisions one efforts with his younger astrophysicist to buy a ready made American testing may today look upon this with pleasure friend in Norway to form JENER (Joint reactor. The Norwegians were not inter- or horror according to ones belief in Establishment for Nuclear Energy Re- ested in this, but highly interested in nuclear power. However, the speed of search. Dr. J.A. Goedkoop, who happens another new development: the demon- the approval process initiated a concer- to be the chairman of the Halden Board stration of the stability of boiling light ted effort by all the opposing quarters, 1 and only after two months of public protests and newspaper discussions, mainly from university quarters, and a public discussion with 500 people in the Norwegian Society of' Engineers, the plan was approved by parliament. The interesting point, when looking back, is that safety was not an issue. It was the question of distribution of funds between university research and i n d LI s t ri a I d e ve I o p me n t. We had already started blazing the big hole in the mountain in Maiden before the final permission from the parliament. We could do that because we had esta- blished IFA as an independent non-profit organization with its own capital, which wc could risk even if the final answer should be 110. In that case, however, we would have been sitting with a big hole in the mountain and no money, not a very attractive situation. Now we could turn Lo the technical problems. The first pressing one was: Would we dare to construct a flat lid on top of the pressure vessel? Some of the engineers with a good university training said: j\'o, it must be curved for safety reasons! However, our basic idea was to build a reactor where you could change the fuel elements easily without unscrew- ing the lid. Only a flat top with holes in il could achieve that. Odd Dahl was con- vinced that a thick flat lid with an alumi- nium packing against the tank flange would work. Others were convinced it would curve, leak or blow off. The de- cision had to be made to meed the dead- line for the tank order.