Argonne National Laboratory
RERTR
Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors
Nuclear Science and Engineering Division at Argonne
U.S. Department of Energy

2007 International RERTR Meeting

Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the Meeting

Neutronic Calculations for the Conversion to LEU of a Research Reactor Core

M. Varvayanni1, D. Grigoriadis1,2, N. Catsaros1, E. Stakakis1
1 National Center for Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS" 153 10, Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
2 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus

ABSTRACT

The thermal-hydraulic analysis performed for the needs of the conversion of the open pool 5MW Greek Research Reactor (GRR-1) to a pure Low Enrichment (LEU) configuration is presented. The methodology was based on a complete set of neutronic calculations performed for the new core configuration, in compliance with pre-defined Operation Limiting Conditions. The hottest channel analysis approach was adopted, and peaking factors were used to account for fabrication or measuring uncertainties. Calculations were carried out using the numerical codes NATCON, PLTEMP and PARET provided by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne). Two main different classes of conditions were considered, namely i) steady state normal operating conditions and ii) transient cases related to accidental events including reactivity feedback effects. For steady state operating conditions the behaviour of the new configuration was examined both for forced and natural convection cooling modes. Transient calculations considered several initiating events including reactivity insertion accidents (slow or fast reactivity insertion) and total or partial loss-of-flow accidents, i.e. in accordance to guidelines provided by the IAEA for research Reactors.

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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

2016 RERTR Meeting

The 2016 International RERTR Meeting (RERTR-2016) will take place in Belgium. Stay tuned for further details.

2015 RERTR Meeting

The 2015 International RERTR Meeting (RERTR-2015) took place in Seoul, Korea on Oct. 11-14, 2015.
For more information visit RERTR-2015.

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ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY, Nuclear Engineering Division, RERTR Department
9700 South Cass Ave., Argonne, IL 60439-4814
A U.S. Department of Energy laboratory managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC
 

Last modified on July 29, 2008 16:01 +0200