IAEA-TECDOC-643 Research reactor core conversion guidebook Volume 5: Operations (Appendices L-N) INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY /A> RESEARCH REACTOR CORE CONVERSION GUIDEBOOK VOLUME 5: OPERATIONS (APPENDICES L-N) IAEA, VIENNA, 1992 IAEA-TECDOC-643 ISSN 1011-4289 Printed by the IAEA in Austria April 1992 FOREWORD In view of the proliferation concerns caused by the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and in anticipation that the supply of HEU to research and test reactors will be more restricted in the future, this guidebook has been prepared to assist research reactor operators in addressing the safety d licensinan g issue conversior fo s f theino r reactoU HE r f coreo e sus froe th m fuel to the use of low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. Two previous guidebooks on research reactor core conversion have been publishe e IAEAe th firsTh .y tb d guidebook (IAEA-TECDOC-233) addressed feasibility studies and fuel development potential for light-water-moderated research reactors and the second guidebook (IAEA-TECDOC-324) addressed these topic r heavy-water-moderatefo s d research reactors. This guidebook n fivi , e volumes, addresses the effects of changes in the safety-related parameters of mixed cores and the converted core. It provides an information base which should enable the appropriate approvals processes for implementation of a specific conversion proposal, whether for a light or for a heavy water moderated research reactor greatle b o ,t y facilitated. This guidebook has been prepared at a number of Technical Committee Meetings and Consultants Meetings and coordinated by the Physics Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency, with contributions volunteerey b d different organizations. The IAEA is grateful for these contributions and thank e expertth s s froe variouth m s organization r preparinfo s e detaileth g d investigations and for evaluating and summarizing the results. EDITORIAL NOTE preparingIn this material press,the International the for staffof Atomic Energy Agency have mounted and paginated the original manuscripts and given some attention to presentation. The views expressed necessarilynot do reflect those governments ofthe Member ofthe Statesor organizations under whose auspices the manuscripts were produced. The use in this book of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement publisher,the legalby the IAEA, to the status as of such countries territories,or of their authorities institutions delimitationand the of or theirof boundaries. The mention specificof companies theirof or products brandor names does implynot any endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. This text was compiled before the unification of Germany in October 1990. Therefore the names German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany have been retained. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT MISSINE TH AL F LO G PAGE THIN SI S DOCUMENT WERE ORIGINALLY BLANK PREFACE Volum consist5 e f detaileo s d Appendices L-N, which contai nvarieta f o y useful informatio operatioe th n o n f researco n h reactors with reduced enrich- ment fuels. Summaries of these appendices can be found in Chapters 12-14 of Volum (SUMMARY1 e f thi)o s guidebook. Appendi containL x sa summar f o y necessary and recommended experiments for reactor startup. Appendix M pro- vides informatio e procedureth n no d experiencean s f severao s l reactor opera- tors with both mixe d fulan dl cores with reduced enrichment fuels. AppendiN x contains informatio n transportationo f boto n h fres d spenan h t fuel elements, n speno t DepartmenS fueU le th storage n f Energy'o o t d ,an s receip d finanan t - cial settlement provisions for nuclear research reactor fuels. e topicTh s whic e addressear h Volumn e appendicei dth , 5 e whicn i s h detailed informatio e summare foundth b n d ca y,nan chapter Volumn i se ar 1 e listed below. VOLUME 1 VOLUME 5 SUMMARY Topic __APPENDI_ X Chapter L Startup Experiments 12 Experience with Mixed and Full Core Operation M 13 Transportation, Spent Fuel Storage, and Reprocessing N 14 CONTRIBUTING ORGANIZATIONS ArgonnL AN e National Laboratory United States of America Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories CRNL Canada Commissariat a I'Energie Atomique CEA France GA Technologies Inc. 6A United State f Americso a GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH GKSS Federal RepublI f Germano c y Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute JAERI Japan Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute KURRI Japan Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN Netherlands k RidgOa e National Laboratory ORNL United State f Americso a Österreichisches Forschungszentrum Selbersdorf ÖFZS Austria N T Transnuklear GmbH Federal Repub f Germano c lI y United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority UKAEA United Kingdom University of Michigan - Ford Nuclear Reactor FNR United States of America U.S. Departmen f Energto y USDOE United States of America The IAEA Is grateful for the contributions volunteered by these organizations and thanks their expert r preparinfo s e detaileth g d Investigation r evaluatinfo d an sd summarizinan g e th g results presente thin I d s Guidebook. CONTENTS APPENDIX L. STARTUP EXPERIMENTS L-l. GKSS: Startup experiments with reduced enrichment fuels..................................... 11 W. Krull APPENDI . EXPERIENCXM E WITH MIXE FULD DAN L CORE OPERATION Mixed cores M-l. CRNL: CRNL experience with research reactor fuel conversion and mixed core operation ..................................................................................9 1 . R.D. Graham M-2.ÖFZS: Experience with mixed cores in the ASTRA reactor .................................. 25 CostaJ. M-3.KURRI: HEU-MEU mixed core experiments in the KUCA .................................. 39 Kanda,K. Shiroya,S. Hayashi,M. Kobayashi,K. ShibataT. M-4.ORNL/ANL transitioe Th : n whole-core phasth f eo e demonstratiot na Ridgk theOa e Research Reactor ...................................................................1 5 . Hobbs, W. Bretscher,R. MM. R.J. Cornelia, J.L. Snelgrove Full cores M-5.FNR: Operational impactenrichmenw lo f so t uranium fuel conversion no the Ford Nuclear Reactor ............................................................................. 67 R.R. Burn M-6.JAERI: Ful lfue U corl edemonstratioME JMTe th n Rni .....................................3 7 . M. Saito, Nagaoka,Y. Shimakawa,S. Nakayama,F. Oyamada,R. OkamotoY. APPENDI . TRANSPORTATIONXN , SPENT FUEL STORAGE REPROCESSIND AN , G N-l. Transportatio f fresno h fuel elements N-l.l. TN: Transportation of MTR fuel elements within the Federal Republic of Germany .............................................................. 85 N-l.2. KURRI: Transportation of fresh fuel elements for Japanese research reactors .............................................................................. 93 Kanda,K. NakagomeY. N-1.3. UKAEA: The UKAEA unirradiated fuel transport containers ....................... 95 R. Panter N-1.4. GA: Transportation of unirradiated TRIGA-LEU fuel ................................ 97 N-2. Transportatio f spenno t fuel elements N-2.1. GKSS : Remark transportatioe th n o s f spenno t fuel elements ......................9 9 . W. Krull N-2.2. TN: Transnuklear spent fuel shipping containers ....................................... 103 N-2.3. UKAEA: UKAEA's 'UNIFETCH' irradiated fuel transport containers ..........7 10 . R. Panter N-2.4. CEA: The transport of spent fuel elements of research reactors .................... 113 N-2.5. GA: Transportation of irradiated TRIGA-LEU fuel ................................... 117 N-3. Spent fuel storage N-3.1. ANL: Nuclear criticalit fueU l HE elemen yd assessmenan U t storagLE f o t e ...9 11 . R.B. Pond, J.E. Mates N-3.2. KURRI: Fresh fuel storage ................................................................7 13 . Y. Nakagome, K. Kanda, T. Shibata N-3.3. ECN: Spent fuel storage ..................................................................... 143 E.G. Mérelle,A. Tas N-4. USDOE: Receip financiad an t l settlement provision nuclear fo s r research reactor fuels .............................................................................................. 149 Appendix L STARTUP EXPERIMENTS Appendix L-1 STARTUP EXPERIMENTS WITH REDUCED ENRICHMENT FUELS . KRULW L GKSS — Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Geesthacht, Federal Republi f Germanco y Abstract A summar f necessaro y d recommendean y d experiment r startufo s f o p a reactor with reduced enrichment fuel s providedi s . 1. General remarks Recommended startup procedures and experiments depend on a number of factors suc: has completenese th - nucleaf o s thermodynamicad ran l calculations, completenese th - dynamif so d safetcan y related calculations, comparisoe th actuae - (LEUw th d (HEU ne f lol o n d ))an core design, - the operation with mixed (HEU + LEU) or only new (LEU) reactor cores, content5 U- w ne , d an d ol - - changed or unchanged fuel element design, - change unchanger o d d contro designd lro , - knowledge of thermal flux distribution (power distribution), - knowledge of burnup values, trie th p value- safetd san y margins. Having most of these calculations and the needed knowledge one has to perform startup experiment o reasontw r sfo s checo t calculationse kth - , learo t n- from experiment flus powed sa xan r distribution- re d san activity values will change and as normally the core configura- tio r researcnfo h reactor t fixedno s i s. 11 followinge th n I , proposal necessarr fo s d recommendeyan d startup experiment givee sar n together wit hshora t commentary (see also