Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2004 International RERTR Meeting

Prospects of WWR-SM Reactor LEU Conversion and Spent Fuel Shipment Activity Status

A. Rakhmanov, B. Yuldashev, U. Salikhbaev
Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbekistan Republic
Ulugbek, 702132 Tashkent, Uzbekistan

ABSTRACT
 

The WWR-SM research reactor in Uzbekistan has operated at 10 MW since 1979,. using Russian-supplied IRT-3M fuel assemblies containing 36% enriched uranium. Burnup tests of four full-sized IRT-4M FA with 19.5% enrichment were successfully completed to a burn up of about ~60% in 2000-2002. IRT-3M tube type and IRT-MR pin-type FA with U9Mo-Al LEU fuel could be tested at WWR-SM reactor as soon as prototypes will be manufactured. These two type FA assemblies with density of 4.7gU/cc and 5.1g/cc correspondingly are suitable for the reactor core conversion to use LEU fuel with core size of 20 FA. The spent fuel shipment status and unused fresh fuel shipment to Russia are informed.

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