Accelerated irradiation testing and post-irradiation characterization: U.S.-based capabilities for advanced nuclear systems and radioisotope production
Irradiation experiments and post-irradiation examinations (PIE)—together referred to as “Irradiation Testing” IRT—are prerequisites for nuclear fuel and material qualification for the deployment of new and advanced reactors, as well as radioisotope production, thereby ensuring regulatory compliance. Qualified research and test reactors (RTRs) and testing facilities are essential to enable IRT to verify performance and safety […]
An evaluation and qualification of U.S.-based research reactors for irradiation and post-irradiation capabilities supporting advanced nuclear systems
Irradiation experiments are a prerequisite for evaluating nuclear reactor system designs, analyzing the performance of these systems, and obtaining licenses. Likewise, irradiation facilities are necessary for producing the radioisotopes used in industrial and medical applications. Recent developments in modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities and advancements in computational resources have further enabled the design of irradiation […]
Sensitivity Analysis of Irradiated Fueled Experiments using the MOOSE Framework
Modeling and simulation (M&S) methods are able to predict uncertainties in experimental parameters (e.g., power and fission density) during irradiation. A shortfall exists in predicting how sensitive some of the parameters will behave during the experimental process. Sensitivity and Uncertainty Quantification (SUQ) is critical in support of qualification and licensing reactor fuels. The application of […]
Irradiation performance of a U-7Mo in Al-Si matrix dispersion full-size fuel plate assembly
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is leading the Ki-Jang Research Reactor (KJRR) project with the intent to develop a new reactor for medical isotope production and other nuclear research purposes. The KJRR core is designed to use high density fuel system where uranium alloyed with 7 wt% molybdenum (U-7Mo) particles are dispersed in […]
Experiment Validation Protocol for Flux Wire Measurements in the Advanced Test Reactor
One of the Advanced Test Reactor’s (ATR’s) functions is to irradiate and qualify nuclear fuels and materials. Due to the large number of experiment or test positions, the cost, and the limited number of vessel penetrations for instrumentation, in-core instrumentation for most experiments is not feasible. In such instances, modeling of experiment conditions using high-fidelity […]
Measurements of Effective Actinides Neutron Capture Cross-Sections in a Cadmium-Filtered Epithermal Neutron Spectrum
A total of 20 actinide samples were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL): 233U (1), 235U (1), 236U (1), 238U (1), 237Np (2), 239Pu (1), 240Pu (1), 242Pu (2), 244Pu (2), 241Am (2), 243Am (2), 244Cm (2), and 248Cm (2). The samples were loaded in a basket containing a […]