Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
1998 International RERTR Meeting

STATUS IN 1998 OF THE
HIGH FLUX REACTOR FUEL CYCLE

J. Guidez, A.Gevers, P. J.M. Thijssen
The European Commission, Netherlands

F.J. Wijtsma
ECN, Netherlands

ABSTRACT

The High Flux Reactor located at Petten (The Netherlands), is owned by The European Commission and is operated under contract by ECN (Netherlands Energy Research Foundation).

This plant is in operation since 1962 using HEU enriched at 90%. Conversion studies were conducted several years ago with the hypothesis of a global conversion of the entire core. The results of these studies have shown a costly operation with a dramatic decrease of the thermal flux which is necessary for the medical use of the plant (Molybdene 99 production). Some tests with low enriched elements were also conducted with several companies, several geometrical configurations and several enrichments. They are described in this paper. Explanations are also given on future possibilities for new fuel testing.

Recently new estimations were made with progressive conversion of the core and with new types of elements. These estimations show promising results but need to be confirmed by final calculations, specifically in the thermal-hydraulic field to verify the necessary safety margins. These final studies could also confirm the final cost of a conversion (fuel consumption, loss of flux, cycle length, etc ).

For the back end of the fuel cycle, this paper presents the interim storage in the pools of the plant before dry storage with containment in helium.