Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the 2004 International RERTR Meeting
WHAT THE DIFFERENCE TO USE LEU AND HEU FUEL ELEMENTS
SEPERATELY OR TOGETHER IN A RESEARCH REACTOR
ŞADİ KAYA
Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center P.K. 1,
Havaalanı, 34831-İstanbul
GÜLSEN ÜSTÜN
Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center P.K. 1,
Havaalanı, 34831-İstanbul
ABSTRACT
Concerning of nuclear material safety, most of the
research reactors are advised to shift from HEU (high
enriched-%93 U235) to LEU (low enriched-%20 U235) fuel
elements. When LEU and HEU fuel elements are to be used
together in a research reactor, some design and safety
problems are encountered. According to use of the
reactor, some research reactors such as MTR type may not
show any considerable difference for HEU or LEU fuel
elements, but the efficiency of radio-isotop production
generated by thermal neutron interaction may decrease
about twenty-thirty percent when LEU fuel elements are
used. Here, fine mesh-sized 3D neutronic analysis of
TR-2 research reactor is presented to indicate the
arising problem when LEU end HEU fuel elements are used
together in a research reactor. Partial thermohydraulic
analysis of the reactor is also given to show the
betterness of the LEU fuel element design. However,
there might be some points that should be noticed for
safer operation of plate type fuelled research reactors.
Contact: Dr. Jordi Roglans-Ribas
Technical Director, RERTR Department
Nuclear Engineering Division 362
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439
Fax: +1 630-252-5161
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