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Atomic Energy ^ £ 5 3 L'energie Atomique of Canada Limited W^^W Du Canada Limitee Experiments Performed in Zed-2 in Support Of AECL-7918 ATOMIC ENERGY ^£53 L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE OF CANADA LIMITED W^^W DU CANADA LIMITEE EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED IN ZED-2 IN SUPPORT OF THE IRRADIATION OF (Th,Pu)O2 FUEL (BDL-422) IN NRU Experiences effectuees dans I'installation ZED-2 pour faciliter I'irradiation du combustible (Th, Pu)O2 (BDL-422) dans le NRU by R.T. JONES Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Laboratoires nucleaires de Chalk River Chalk River, Ontario January 1984 Janvier ATOMIC ENERGY OF CANADA LIMITED Atomic Energy of Canada Research Company EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED IN ZED-2 IN SUPPORT OF THE IRRADIATION OF (Th,Pu)O2 FUEL (BDL-422) IN NRU by R.T- Jones Reactor Physics Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Chalk River, Ontario, KOJ 1J0 1984 January AECL-7918 L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE DU CANADA, LIMITEE Société de recherche de L'Energie Atomique du Canada Experiences effectuées dans l'installation ZED-2 pour faciliter Tirradiation du combustible (Th, Pu)0p (BDL-422) dans le NRU par R.T. Jones Résumé Une boucle du NRU contenant cinq grappes de 36 éléments de combustible (Th, Pu)0? ayant un contenu fissile de 1,4% en pds a été simulée dans l'installation ZED-2. On a pu effectuer, entre autres, les mesures suivantes: (a) valeur de la rëactivité de la boucle et de son eau (H2O) de refroidissement; (b) perturbations de flux causées par la boucle; et (c) taux de réaction détaillés â l'intérieur et aux abords du combustible se trouvant dans la boucle, y compris une étude du pic de flux causé par les intervalles entre les grappes. Laboratoires nucléaires de Chalk River Chalk River (Ontario) KOJ 1J0 Janvier 19&4 AECL-7918 ATOMIC ENERGY OF CANADA LIMITED Atomic Energy of Canada Research Company EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED IN ZED-2 IN SUPPORT OF THE IRRADIATION OF (Th,Pu)02 FUEL (BDL-422) IN NRU by R.T. Jones ABSTRACT An NRU loop containing five 36-element bundles of (Th,Pu)02 fuel with 1.4 wt% fissile content has been simulated in ZED-2. Measurements made included: (a) reactivity worth of the loop and its H2O coolant, (b) flux perturbations caused by the loop, and (c) detailed reaction rates within and about, the loop fuel including an investigation of end flux peaking caused by the inter-bundle gaps. Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Chalk River, Ontario KOJ 1J0 1984 January AECL-7918 - 11 - TABLE OF CONTENTS ?age 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. DESCRIPTION OF LATTICE, LOOP SITE AND FUEL 1 2.1 Lattice Configuration 1 2.2 The Simulated NRU Loop 1 2.3 (Th,Pu)O2 Fuel 2 3. REACTIVITY MEASUREMENTS 2 4. MACROSCOPIC FLUX DISTRIBUTION MEASUREMENTS 3 4.1 General Comments 3 4.2 Location of Detectors 3 4.3 Copper Activity Distributions 4 4.4 In/Cu Activity Ratios 4 4.5 Comments on the Results 4 5. DETAILED LOOP FINE STRUCTURE MEASUREMENT , 5 5.1 General -. 5 5.2 Loading the Removable Fuel Elements 5 5.3 Copper Activity Measurements 5 5.4 Lutetium-Manganese, Indium-Manganese Activity Measurements 6 5.5 Fission Rete Measurements . 7 5.6 Thorium Capture Measurements 7 5.7 Comments on the Results 7 6. END FLUX PEAKING MEASUREMENTS 8 6.1 Introduction 8 6.2 Geometry of the End Regions 8 6.3 Loading of Flux Detectors < 9 6.4 Results 9 6.5 Discussion of Results 9 7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 8. REFERENCES 11 - iii - LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Composition of BDL-422 (Th,Pu)02 Fuel 12 Table 2: Reactivity Measurements 12 Table 3: Details of the Activation Foils Used 13 Table 4: Copper Foil Activities (Reference Lattice) 14 Table 5: Copper Foil Activities (Loop H2O Cooled) 15 Table 6: Copper Foil Activities (Loop Air Cooled) 16 Table 7: Summary of Cosine Least Squares Fits to Axial Activity Distributions .... 17 Table 8: In-116/Cu-64 Activity Ratios (Reference Core) 18 Table 9: In-116/Cu-64 Activity Ratios (Loop H20 Cooled) * 19 Table 10: In-116/Cu-64 Activity Ratios (Loop Air Cooled) 20 Table 11: Copper Activities, Fine Structure Measurement (Loop H20 Cooled) 21 Table 12: Copper Activities, Fine Structure Measurement (Loop Air Cooled) 22 Table 13: Normalized Copper Wire Activities (H20 Cooled Fine Structure) 23 Table 14: Normalized Copper Wire Activities (Air Cooled Fine Structure) 24 Table 15: Fine Structure Activities (Loop H20 Cooled) 25 Table 16: Fine Structure Activities (Loop Air Cooled) 26 Table 17: End Flux Peaking Copper Activities (Loop H20 Cooled).. 27 Table 18: End Flux Peaking Copper Activities (Loop Air Cooled) . 28 - iv - LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Plan View of the ZED-2 Lattice 29 Figure 2: Vertical Section of the Experimental Fuel String .... 30 Figure 3: Horizontal Section of the Experimental Fuel 31 Figure 4: Radial Distribution of Perturbation Factors at Elevation 1.25 m 32 Figure 5: Location of Foils in Fuel Stack for Fine Structure Measurements 33 Figure 6: Location of Copper Wires on the Aluminum Frame 34 Figure 7: Copper Activity Distribution in and around the H2O- Cooled Loop 35 Figure 8: Copper Activity Distribution in and around the Air- Cooled Loop 36 Figure 9: Azimuthal Copper Activity Distribution on the Loop Calandria Tube Outer Surface 37 Figure 10: Comparison of the Cross Sections of Lul76 amj Pu239 38 Figure 11: Fuel Bundle Construction in the Region of the Bundle- End Gaps and Location of External Flux Detectors 39 Figure 12: End Flux Peaking for the I^O-Cooled Fuel 40 Figure 13: End Flux Peaking for the Air-Cooled Fuel 41 Figure 14: Azimuthal Flux Variation and End Flux Peaking as Indicated by Longitudinal Copper Strips on an Outer Element in an Air-Cooled Bundle 42 Figure 15: Propagation of the End Flux Peaking Perturbation into the Lattice: H20-Cooled Loop 43 Figure 16: Propagation of the End Flux Peaking Perturbation into the Lattice: Air-Cooled Loop 44 1. INTRODUCTION As part of the program to develop an advanced fuel cycle for the reactor, the Recycle Fuel Fabrication Laboratory (RFFL) at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories has produced six 36-element bundles of (Th,Pu)02 fuel for irradiation in an NRU loop. The elements of these bundles were made available for experiments in ZED-2 prior to the irradiation. Six bundles are insufficient to allow reliable measurement of lattice parameters for this fuel. Therefore, the only experiments done were to simulate the NRU loop and its environment to provide a benchmark test for the computer codes used in NRU calculations. The following studies were made: (a) the reactivity effect of replacing the centre rod of a reference core with a simulation of the loop, and of voiding the light water coolant of the loop, (b) the flux perturbation in the core caused by inserting the loop and voiding the coolant, (c) detailed reaction rate measurements, including and U^33 fission rates, within and about the loop fuel, and (d) end flux peaking caused by the gap between fuel bundles. 2. DESCRIPTION OF LATTICE, LOOP SITE AND FUEL 2.1 Lattice Configuration The reference lattice used in the heavy water moderated ZED-2 reactor is illustrated in Figure 1. It consisted of 64 ZEEP rods in a non-uniform hexagonal array having the NRU pitch of 196.85 mm. This lattice was an attempt to represent a typical NRU lattice in the region of a loop. Each ZEEP rod consisted of natural uranium metal cylinders, 32.5 mm diameter and 150 mm long stacked in a 2S aluminum alloy tube of 1 mm wall thickness. The fuel length in the rods was 2.85 m and they were suspended so that the bottom of the fuel was 150 mm above the ZED-2 calandria floor, which was the reference point for all height measurements. The method of designating locations in the lattice is also given in Figure 1. The centre rod is thus at location K0. This was the location of the loop when it was installed. 2.2 The Simulated NRU Loop The simulated loop and its contents are illustrated in Figure 2 (vertical section) and Figure 3 (plan). It consisted of concentric aluminum "pressure" and "calandria" tubes separated by an air gap. Five fuel CANDU™* - CANada Deuterium Uraniuim - 2 - bundles supported on an aluminum central support tube (CST), which was a snug fit in the holes in their end plates, were placed in the loop. To ensure that the bundles and the "pressure" tube were coaxial large aluminum washers 1.6 mm thick, which fitted snugly around the CST and into the pressure tube, were placed at the top and bottom of the stack. For some irradiations two more washers were placed at the top and bottom of the middle bundle in the stack (#3) to ensure that, in particular, it and the pressure tube were coaxial. The loop was suspended in the reactor so that the bottom of the lowest fuel bundle was 150 mm from the calandria floor. Other relevant dimensions of the loop are given in Figures 2 an<" 3. 2.3 (Th,Pu)0? Fuel This fuel had the nominal composition (Th, 1.4 wt% Pu fissile)02. Full details of its manufacture and final composition are given in Reference 1 and are summarized in Table 1. For these experiments the elements were assembled into 36-element bundles using special hardware. This consisted of a pair of Zircaloy end-plates 3.18 mm thick spaced apart by tie-rods of 6.55 mm diameter Zircaloy rod. The tie-rods were connected to the end-plates by countersunk aluminum screws. Holes in the end-plates located the elements by the welding nipple at each end while a central hole accommodated the CST.
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