Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2003 International RERTR Meeting

Preliminary INVESTIGATION of the Use of Monolithic U-Mo Fuel in the MIT Reactor

Thomas H. Newton, Jr.

Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
138 Albany St.
Cambridge, MA  02139

and

Mujid S. Kazimi, Edward E. Pilat and Zhiwen Xu

Nuclear Engineering Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139

ABSTRACT

Studies have begun on the use of monolithic LEU U-Mo fuel in the MIT Nuclear Research Reactor (MITR-II) using the Monte Carlo Transport code MCNP.  These studies have included model benchmarking, LEU fuel optimization, burnup evaluation, in-core facility design, and determination of safety attributes.  Benchmarking studies on the initial core have shown favorable agreement between the calculated and measured reactivity worths of the six control blades.  In addition, optimization studies on LEU U7Mo MITR-II fuel have shown that an arrangement of ten to twelve plates per fuel element would have initial reactivity values and thermal neutron fluxes comparable to the current HEU core. Burnup studies which have been made using the MCODE depletion program will be presented.  Safety attributes such as temperature coefficients, shutdown margins, and coolant subcooled margin are under evaluation.

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