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The Slowpoke-2 Reactor with Low Enrichment Uranium Oxide Fuel

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The Slowpoke-2 Reactor with Low Enrichment Uranium Oxide Fuel AECL-8840 ATOMIC ENERGY »li^ L'ENERGIEATOMIQUE OF CANADA LIMITED Vi5V DU CANADA LIMITEE THE SLOWPOKE-2 REACTOR WITH LOW ENRICHMENT URANIUM OXIDE FUEL Emploi dun combustible en oxyde d'uranium faiblement enrichi dans le reacteur SLOWPOKE-2 B.M. TOWNES and J.W. HILBORN Presented at the Canadian Nuclear Society 1985 Annual Conference. Ottawa, 1985 June 3-4 Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Laboratoires nucleaires de Chalk River Chalk River, Ontario June 1985 juin ATOMIC ENERGY OF CANADA LIMITED THE SLOWPOKE-2 REACTOR WITH LOW ENRICHMENT URANIUM OXIDE FUEL by B.M. Townes and J.W. Hilborn Presented an the Canadian Nuclear Society 1985 Annual Conference Ottawa, 1985 June 3-4 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Research Company Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Chalk. River, Ontario, Canada KOJ 1J0 1985 June L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE DU CANADA, LIMITEE Emploi d'un combustible en oxyde d'uranium faiblement enrichi dans le réacteur SLOWPOKE-2 par B.M. Townes et J.W. Hi I born Résumé Le coeur d'un réacteur SLOWPOKE-2 contient moins de 1 kg d'uranium fortement enrichi et le risque de prolifération est très faible. Cependant, pour supprimer toute crainte de prolifération, un nouveau coeur alimenté par de l'uranium faiblement enrichi a été conçu. Ce coeur contient environ 180 éléments combustibles apparentés à l'élément d'UO, gainé de Zircaloy-4 employé dans les réacteurs CANDU, mais leur diamètre extérieur est plus petit. Les caractéristiques physiques de ce nouveau coeur de réacteur donnent au SLOWPOKE-2 une sûreté inhérente dans toutes les conditions concevables, de sorte que le concept de sécurité qui permet un fonctionnement sans surveillance n'est pas affecté. L'Energie Atomique du Canada, Limitée Société de recherche Laboratoires nucléaires de Chalk River Chalk River, Ontario, Canada KOJ UO Juin 1985 AECL-8840 THK S!.nWP0Kt-:-2 REACTOR WITH LOW ENRICHMENT URANIUM OXIDE FUEL B.M. TOWNES AND J.W. HILBORN AECL Research Conpany Ciialk River Nuclear Laboratories Chalk River, Ontario ABSTRACT In order to minimize the effects of rhe change to A SLOWPOKE-2 reactor cure contains Jess than 1 kg d new fuel and to facilitate its use for replacement of highly enriched uranium (HEU*) and the cores in existing reactors, rhe overall SLOWPOKE-2 pmlit«r"if ion risk is very low. However, to overcome re act. or georaet ry lias been ret a ined and only the fuel prol if er.it ion concerns a new low enrichment uranium ca^e and fuel elements have been al-ered. The fuel (LEU**) fuel led reactor core has been designed. This element is based on the dependable Zircaloy-4 clad core conta ins approximately 180 IncL elements based UO2 CANDU fuel element , but with a smaller outside «:n rhe ".Lrcaloy-4 clad i!07 CANDU fuel element, but d iaraeter (5.25 mm), similar to that of the with a iM-ial If r oui side diameter. The physics ur.iniuru- aluminum fuel element used in the current chtirac er Lsr ics of f ii i a new reactor core ensure the SLOWPOKE-2 reactors. The fueL cage is manufactured i :iht? rent sa f cty of tiie rone tor under all conceivable out of Zlrcaloy-4 material to avoid corrosion condir ions .-ind '"hus r'lu> basic SLOWPOKE safety probLems which might have occurred if the current phi losophy which ,icrni t s unat tended oper.it ion is aluminum cage were used. The first LEU core will be not af fee ted. installed this year In a new SLOWPOKE-2 facility at : lit' Koyul Military College In Kingston, 0n*ario. INTRODUCTION SLOWPOKE-2: GENERAL DESCRIPTION 5LOW?uKK-2 is a 20 kW pool-type research reactor which, due to inherent safety characteristics > is SLOWPOKE, an acronym for Safe Low Power Critical licensed to operate unattended (1) • There are Experiment, is a pool-type reac'or developed by currently seven SLOWPOKE-2 uni fs in operation, six in Atomlc Energy of Canada Limited as a neutron source Canada and one at the UniversU y of the West Indies for isotope product Ion and neutron act I vat ion in Jamaica - The reactor is used as 3 neutron source, analysis. Low cost, Inherent safety and simplicity primarily for neut run activat ion analysis and short- of operation were primary considerations- The 1ived isot ope product ion . reactor provides a usable thermal neutron flux of 10*2 n.cm~-.s~^ at approximately 20 kW thermal power. In general, for a small research reactor rhe The prototype SLOWPOKE-1 was commissioned at CRNL in muxl^iun value for the ratio of thermal neutron flux 1970. The first commercial unit, RLOWPpKE-2, was to fission power is obtained when the core fissile installed In 1971. These reactors are licensed to content is a min.imu.-7i. Thus, in the SLOWPOKE-2 operate without conventional automat ic shutdown concept where near ran flux is at a premium, HEU fuel devices and without an operator tn attendance. The with its small U-238 reactivity load is the obvious basic design spec iflcatIons are shown in Table 1 - first choice. Since a suitable material in the form Figure 1 shows the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor assembly. 01 jn dluuinuni clad fuel element made of an uranium-aluminum alloy was already in use in the NRX and NRU research reactors, this material was selected TABLE 1: SLOWPOKE-2 DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS 1 3r the original SLOWPOKE-1 protorype and all subsequent SLOWPOKE-2 reactors. REACTOR Pool Diameter 2.5 0 These existing reactors are fuelled with less than Pool Depth 6.1 m L kg of HEU fuel contained in approximately 300 fuel Container Diameter 0.6 01 elements. HEU fuel is viewed as a potential source Container Height 5.3 m of weapons material and the supply of HEU to research Core Diameter 22.0 cm renc t ors ia becoming more restrict Ive. Since Core Height 22.0 cm enrichments of less than 20% are internationally Fission Power 20.0 kW recognized as a fully adequate isotopic barrier to weapons manufacture, the possibility of using 20% IRRADIATION FACILITIES enriched uranium instead of 93%, has been under consideration, for 3L0WPOKE-2, at Chalk River Nuclear INNER OUTER Laboratories since 1979. The result is a new LEU core design which will maintain the SLOWPOKE-2 Thermal Klux 1012 5.8 x 101 reactor as a viable product, both for new reactor Diamfer 1.6 2.9 installations and for replacement cores in exist Ing Longrh 5.4 5.4 reacfors. Volume 7 27 * H;:;' 93 wr;. 1235 in u ** I.K'J «. 20 wr?. U235 In L' - 2 - CRITICAL ASSEMBLY THERMOCOUPLE - TOP PLATE OUTLET FLUX DETECTOR- ORIFICE CONTROL ROD BERYLLIUM SMALL CINNER) SHIMS 8ERYLL1UM j INSTRUMENT ANNULUS f IRRADIATION 1 TUBE SOCKET REFLECTOR CRITICAL ASSEMBLY TOP PLATE COOLANT FLOW BY NATURAL CONVECTION BERYLLIUM ANNULUS LARGE COUTER) IRRADIATION TUBE BOTTOM _5 PLATE •CORE PLATFORM- LOWER BERYLLIUM REFLECTOR FIGURE 1: SLOWPOKE-2 CRITICAL ASSEMBLY SLOWPOKE-2 cores originally contained 820 g of user access to the reactor core, and administrative M'lYi In the form of 295 elements of an aluminum clad control of samples added. HKU-alurainum alloy. The latest SLOWPOKE-2 reactor, which was Installed In 1984 ar the Atomic Energy of The core of the SLOWPOKE reactor is designed to Canada Rad iocheinical Company, Kanata facility near have negative temperature and void coefficients of Ottawa, has a 317 element long life core and contains reactivity, so that heating or boiling of the 875 g of U23r> (2). The cylindrical reactor core is coolani—moderator causes the reactivity to decrease. surrounded by 10 cm thick beryllium reflectors on the A consequence of this self-regulating characteristic side and hot-urn. Long ""erin reactivity compensation Is an upper limit on the equilibrium power equal to is effected by adding ^liiii beryllium plates to a shim the heat removal capacity of the cooling system. A tray on top of the core. The reactor core and more important consequence of the negative beryllium reflectors are supported inside a temperature and void coefficient is the Inherent cylindrical aluminum water-tight reactor container protection against reactivity transients caused by suspended in the reactor pool, thereby providing loss-of-regulation. The reactor is designed so that double containment for the core water. the power and temperature transients, resulting from the most severe reactivity transients, are safely SLOWPOKE-2 lias five sample sites in the beryllium limited by the rapid increase In the fuel and radial reflector and five more sites In the water moderator temperatures and the production of surrounding this reflector. Irradiation capsules are sub-cooled voids. transferred to and from the reactor using a compressed gas system in tubes extending from the Automatic control of the reactor Is exercised by a londtnp, station to the sample site. single motor-driven cadmium absorber rod which moves along the central axis of che core through a hole in The core is cooled by natural convection of the the top reflector. The control rod motor is coolanr-moderator water. Coolant, heat passes through activated by a signal from a self-powered neutron the wall nt the container to the pool where it Is detector located in the beryllium side reflector. If removed by means of a cooling coil connected to the the control system fails, the maximum credible loc.tl water supply. reactivity insertion will result in a power transient limited to safe levels by the Inherent negative Inherent renctor safety is guaranteed by a feedback characteristics. If a fault, develops in the combination of the negative temperature and void automatic regulating system, the reactor can be coefficients of the underraoderated core, a limited shutdown manually by inserting cadmium filled maximum excess reai'-Jvlty of 0.004 ik/k, restricted capsules In one or more of the irradiation sites.
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