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Chapter03 - Research Nuclear Reactors
Chapter03 - Research Nuclear Reactors
Ali
Many research reactors were built in the 1960s and 1970s. 1975 saw the peak number of operating research reactors with 373 in 55 countries. These reactors are primarily designed to produce neutrons, activate radioactive or other ionizing radiation sources for scientific, medical, engineering or other research purposes including teaching and training. Many of them are located on university campuses. According to IAEA, no new research nuclear reactors were added to the list of more than 240 operation research power reactors around the world in 2009. Many of these reactors are used for materials testing and the production of isotopes for medicine and industry. As older reactors are retired and replaced by fewer more multipurpose reactors, the number of operational research reactors is expected to drop to between 100 and 150 by 2020.
The figure 3-1 presented above illustrates that Russia has the highest number of research reactors, followed by USA, Japan, France, Germany and China. Many developing countries also have research reactors, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, Jamaica, Libya, Thailand and Vietnam. The trends reveal that even though many research reactors are under-utilized and many older ones will be shut down and subsequently
undergo decommissioning; the need for research reactors is not waning. Presently, seven new research reactors are under construction and nine more are planned. Some of these new reactors are innovative reactors designed to produce high neutron fluxes and will be either multipurpose reactors or dedicated to specific needs. These reactors are relatively smaller than power reactors whose primary function is to produce heat to generate electricity. Their power is designated in megawatts or kilowatts thermal (MWth or MWt), but a common practice is to use MW or KW for megawatts or kilowatts. Most of these reactors range up to 100 MW, compared with 3,000 MW (ie.1000 MWe) for a typical power reactor. These reactors operate at lower temperatures. They need far less fuel, and far less fission products build up as the fuel is used. On the other hand, their fuel requires more highly enriched uranium, typically up to 20 percent U-235 (Uranium), although some older ones use 93 percent U-235. They also have a very high power density in the core, which requires special design features. Like power reactors, the core needs cooling, and usually a moderator is required to slow down the neutrons and enhance fission. As neutron production is their main function, most research reactors also need a reflector to reduce neutron loss from the core.
water is pumped through the core, but the pressure within the tank is only moderately elevated above that in the open pool. The pressurization being mostly due to the pressure drop across the core of the pumped coolant water flow. Again, in the United States, aluminum clad fuel plates are usual.
This type of research reactors is similar except that cooling is more active.
The fuel/moderator/poison has a design operating temperature of up to 750 C degree and a safety limit of 1150 C degree, obviously much higher than aluminudfuel mixtures. It is formed into rods clad with stainless steel (Incoloy 800). With this combination of design features very large reactivity insertions can be tolerated, and many TRIGA research nuclear reactors are routinely and safely operated as pulsed reactors with peak power levels, during a few millisecond pulse, of up YO 10 GW. Cooling is by natural convection of light water for power levels up to two MW. At higher power levels forced flow is used, but the high fuel temperature tolerance and negative
Perhaps the most interesting reactor design of the common types, from a technical and safety perspective, is the TRIGA, developed in the 1950s by General Atomic. Its unique fuel and core design concept has a very large and very prompt negative temperature coefficient, the meat being a homogenized mixture of fuel and hydrogenous moderator in the form of uranium-zirconium hydride. This provides prompt negative feedback because there is no delay between fuel and moderator temperature variations. This is in addition to the usual prompt Doppler Effect in U238 in reduced enrichment fuels. Beyond these effects erbium can be added as a burnable poison and adds even more prompt negative temperature coefficient because it has a strong resonance: Absorption at about 0.5 eV.
reactivity coefficients mean that pony motors are not needed for shutdown cooling following a loss of the primary coolant Dumps. Other designs are moderated by heavy water or graphite. A few are fast reactors that require no moderator and can use a mixture of uranium and plutonium as fuel. Homogenous type reactors have a core comprising a solution of uranium salts as a liquid contained in a tank about 300 mm diameter. The simple design made them popular early on, but only five are now operating. The IAEA has classified broadly research nuclear reactors into several categories. They include 60 critical assemblies (usually zero power), 23 test reactors, 37 training facilities, 2 prototypes and even 1 producing electricity. However, most (160) are largely for research, although some may also produce radioisotopes. As expensive scientific facilities, they tend to be multi-purpose, and many have been operating for more than 30 years. Russia has the most research nuclear reactors (62), followed by USA (54), Japan (18), France (15), Germany (14) and China (13). Many small and developing countries also have research nuclear reactors, including Bangladesh, Algeria, Colombia, Ghana, Jamaica, Libya, Thailand and Vietnam. About 20 more reactors are planned or under construction, and 361 have been shut down or decommissioned, about half of these in USA.
irradiation to study changes. For instance some steels become brittle and alloys, which resist embitterment, must be used in nuclear reactors. Like nuclear power reactors, research nuclear reactors are, covered by IAEA safety inspections and safeguards, because of their potential for making nuclear weapons. Indias 1974 explosion was the result of plutonium production in a large, but internationally unsupervised, research nuclear reactor. The next chapter is dedicated to the Conventional Nuclear Power Reactors. This chapter was published on Inuitech Intuitech Technologies for Sustainability on December 13, 2010: http://intuitech.biz/?p=7828
Further Reading:
1. Chapter02: Nuclear Power Reactors Components: http://www.scribd.com/doc/81003486/Chapter-02-Nuclear-Power-ReactorsComponents 2. Chapter01: Atoms for Peace: http://www.scribd.com/doc/80953356/Chapter-01Atoms-for-Peace
Resources:
1. IAEA Research Reactors Worldwide: http://wwwnaweb.iaea.org/napc/physics/ACTIVITIES/Research_Reactors_Worldwide.htm 2. World Nuclear Association Research Reactors: http://www.worldnuclear.org/info/default.aspx?id=544&terms=research%20reactors 3. Research Reactors An Overview: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/471422-hDVlCH/webviewable/471422.pdf