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    Versatile Coupled Test Reactor

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    santhosh
    The Versatile Coupled Test Reactor (VCTR) is a proposed highly reconfigurable, sodium-cooled reactor that provides (1) a fast neutron flux environment similar to potential fast reactor designs, (2) thermal and epithermal neutron flux environments complementary to existing reactors, and (3) possibilities for scientific experiments and isotope production. The ongoing design of the VCTR at INL couples a fast neutron zone with a thermal neutron zone to provide both fast and thermal irradiation capabilities while maintaining a core power below 300 MW. Steady-state neutronics calculations using Serpent2 and thermal analyses using RELAP5-3D show that a core configuration using low-enriched uranium fuel could achieve high fast and

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    Versatile Coupled Test Reactor

    Uploaded by

    santhosh
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    The Versatile Coupled Test Reactor (VCTR) is a proposed highly reconfigurable, sodium-cooled reactor that provides (1) a fast neutron flux environment similar to potential fast reactor designs, (2) thermal and epithermal neutron flux environments complementary to existing reactors, and (3) possibilities for scientific experiments and isotope production. The ongoing design of the VCTR at INL couples a fast neutron zone with a thermal neutron zone to provide both fast and thermal irradiation capabilities while maintaining a core power below 300 MW. Steady-state neutronics calculations using Serpent2 and thermal analyses using RELAP5-3D show that a core configuration using low-enriched uranium fuel could achieve high fast and

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    The Versatile Coupled Test Reactor (VCTR) is a proposed highly reconfigurable, sodium-cooled reactor that provides (1) a fast neutron flux environment similar to potential fast reactor designs, (2) thermal and epithermal neutron flux environments complementary to existing reactors, and (3) possibilities for scientific experiments and isotope production. The ongoing design of the VCTR at INL couples a fast neutron zone with a thermal neutron zone to provide both fast and thermal irradiation capabilities while maintaining a core power below 300 MW. Steady-state neutronics calculations using Serpent2 and thermal analyses using RELAP5-3D show that a core configuration using low-enriched uranium fuel could achieve high fast and

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10 views1 page

    Versatile Coupled Test Reactor

    Uploaded by

    santhosh
    The Versatile Coupled Test Reactor (VCTR) is a proposed highly reconfigurable, sodium-cooled reactor that provides (1) a fast neutron flux environment similar to potential fast reactor designs, (2) thermal and epithermal neutron flux environments complementary to existing reactors, and (3) possibilities for scientific experiments and isotope production. The ongoing design of the VCTR at INL couples a fast neutron zone with a thermal neutron zone to provide both fast and thermal irradiation capabilities while maintaining a core power below 300 MW. Steady-state neutronics calculations using Serpent2 and thermal analyses using RELAP5-3D show that a core configuration using low-enriched uranium fuel could achieve high fast and

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Versatile Coupled Test Reactor _VCTR

    A Versatile Coupled Test Reactor (VCTR) is a highly reconfigurable, sodium-


    cooled, coupled fast and thermal spectrum test reactor, which provides (1) a fast
    flux irradiation environment prototypical of potential fast reactor designs, (2)
    thermal and epithermal flux irradiation environments complementary to those of
    ATR and HFIR, and (3) other possibilities, including beam tubes for scientific
    experiments, irradiation vehicles for isotope production, etc. The ongoing design of
    a new versatile coupled thermal-fast test reactor at INL that can accommodate both
    fast and thermal irradiation, technology and safety features tests is described in this
    paper.

    A coupled reactor is defined as a reactor with two distinct spectral zones (Fast and
    Thermal), which are neutronically coupled to each other: some neutrons born in
    fast zone cause fission in thermal zone and vice-versa. Only fast neutrons are
    allowed to go from one zone to the other, which is assured by a thermal neutron
    filter. A distinction of coupling can be made depending on the main purpose of
    using fuel assemblies with some level of neutron moderation (thermal zone)
    together with fuel assemblies with as little moderation as possible (fast zone). It
    can be used mainly to minimize the core power and fissile inventory, or it can be
    used mainly to provide additional control of the irradiation conditions in the
    thermal zone.

    The steady-state neutronics calculations were performed using the three-


    dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation
    code Serpent2. Although, a few changes were necessary to support the Serpent
    code in calculating the coupling coefficients. Steady state and transient thermal
    analyses were performed with RELAP5-3D. One of the core configurations using
    only low enriched uranium fuel could provide both a high fast neutron flux and a
    high thermal neutron flux—respectively 3.5E15 n/s.cm2 and 1E15 n/s.cm2—in
    large volumes while maintaining core power below 300 MW. The use of
    plutonium in the fast zone provides more flexibility in fuel assembly design than
    when low enriched uranium is used, the designer has more degrees of freedom to
    work with; in particular it could provide additional control of the irradiation
    conditions in the thermal zone.

    The results showed that the current design fulfills most R&D needs requirements
    providing high thermal and fast fluxes and wide possibilities for diversified future
    reactor features test in appropriate loops, both in steady state and during transients.

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