Upgrading Scientific Capabilities at the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Upgrading Scientific Capabilities at the High Flux Isotope Reactor

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Published: 1997

Total Pages: 6

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Following termination of the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) Project, a program of upgrades to the Department of Energy's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) was devised by a team of researchers and reactor operators and has been proposed to the department. HFIR is a multipurpose research reactor, commissioned in 1965, with missions in four nationally important areas: isotope production, especially transuranic isotopes; neutron scattering; neutron activation analysis; and irradiation testing of materials. For neutron scattering, there are two major enhancements and several smaller ones. The first is the installation of a small, hydrogen cold neutron source in one of the four existing beam tubes: because of the high reactor power, and the use of new design concepts developed for ANS, the cold source will be as bright as, or brighter than, the Institute Laue Langevin liquid deuterium vertical cold source, although space limitations mean that there will be far fewer cold beams and instruments at HFIR. This project is underway, and the cold source is expected to come on line following an extended shutdown in 1999 to replace the reactor's beryllium reflector. The second major change proposed would put five thermal neutron guides at an existing beam port and construct a new guide hall to accommodate instruments on these very intense beams.


The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) Cold Source Project at ORNL.

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) Cold Source Project at ORNL.

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Published: 1998

Total Pages: 9

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Following the decision to cancel the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), it was determined that a hydrogen cold source should be retrofitted into an existing beam tube of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL> The preliminary design of this system has been completed and an approval in principal of the design has been obtained from the internal ORNL safety review committees and the US Department of Energy (DOE) safety review committee. The cold source concept is basically a closed loop forced flow supercritical hydrogen system. The supercritical approach was chosen because of its enhanced stability in the proposed high heat flux regions. Neutron and gamma physics of the moderator have been analyzed using the 3D Monte Carlo code MCNP. A 3D structural analysis model of the moderator vessel, vacuum tube, and beam tube was completed to evaluate stress loadings and to examine the impact of hydrogen detonations in the beam tube. A detailed ATHENA system model of the hydrogen system has been developed to simulate loop performance under normal and off-normal transient conditions. Semi-prototypic hydrogen loop tests of the system have been performed at the Arnold Engineering Design Center (AEDC) located in Tullahoma, Tennessee to verify the design and benchmark the analytical system model. A 3.5 kW refrigerator system has been ordered and is expected to be delivered to ORNL by the end of this calendar year. The present schedule shows the assembling of the cold source loop on side during the fall of 1999 for final testing before insertion of the moderator plug assembly into the reactor beam tube during the end of the year 2000.


Cold Source Moderator Vessel Development for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Cold Source Moderator Vessel Development for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

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Published: 1998

Total Pages: 8

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A project is underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to design, test, and install a cold neutron source facility in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). This new cold source employs supercritical hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures both as the medium for neutron moderation and as the working fluid for removal of internally-generated nuclear heating. The competing design goals of minimizing moderator vessel mass and providing adequate structural integrity for the vessel motivated the requirement of detailed multidimensional thermal-hydraulic analyses of the moderator vessel as a critical design subtask. This paper provides a summary review of the HFIR cold source moderator vessel design and a description of the thermal-hydraulic studies that were carried out to support the vessel development.


Final Report of the HFIR (High Flux Isotope Reactor) Irradiation Facilities Improvement Project

Final Report of the HFIR (High Flux Isotope Reactor) Irradiation Facilities Improvement Project

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Published: 1987

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The High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) has outstanding neutronics characteristics for materials irradiation, but some relatively minor aspects of its mechanical design severely limited its usefulness for that purpose. In particular, though the flux trap region in the center of the annular fuel elements has a very high neutron flux, it had no provision for instrumentation access to irradiation capsules. The irradiation positions in the beryllium reflector outside the fuel elements also have a high flux; however, although instrumented, they were too small and too few to replace the facilities of a materials testing reactor. To address these drawbacks, the HFIR Irradiation Facilities Improvement Project consisted of modifications to the reactor vessel cover, internal structures, and reflector. Two instrumented facilities were provided in the flux trap region, and the number of materials irradiation positions in the removable beryllium (RB) was increased from four to eight, each with almost twice the available experimental space of the previous ones. The instrumented target facilities were completed in August 1986, and the RB facilities were completed in June 1987.


Steady-state Thermal-hydraulic Design Analysis of the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor

Steady-state Thermal-hydraulic Design Analysis of the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor

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Published: 2005

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The Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) is a research reactor that is planned for construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This reactor will be a user facility with the major objective of providing the highest continuous neutron beam intensities of any reactor in the world. Additional objectives for the facility include providing materials irradiation facilities and isotope production facilities as good as, or better than, those in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. To achieve these objectives, the reactor design uses highly subcooled heavy water as both coolant and moderator. Two separate core halves of 67.6-L total volume operate at an average power density of 4.5 MW(t)/L, and the coolant flows upward through the core at 25 m/s. Operating pressure is 3.1 MPa at the core inlet with a 1.4-MPa pressure drop through the core region. Finally, in order to make the resources available for experimentation, the fuel is designed to provide a 17-d fuel cycle with an additional 4 d planned in each cycle for the refueling process. This report examines the codes and models used to develop the thermal-hydraulic design for ANS, as well as the correlations and physical data; evaluates thermal-hydraulic uncertainties; reports on thermal-hydraulic design and safety analysis; describes experimentation in support of the ANS reactor design and safety analysis; and provides an overview of the experimental plan.


Status of High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) Post-restart Safety Analysis and Documentation Upgrades

Status of High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) Post-restart Safety Analysis and Documentation Upgrades

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Published: 1990

Total Pages: 15

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The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), an experimental reactor located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and operated for the US Department of Energy by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, was shut down in November, 1986 after the discovery of unexpected neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessel. The reactor was restarted in April, 1989, following an extensive review by DOE and ORNL of the HFIR design, safety, operation, maintenance and management, and the implementation of several upgrades to HFIR safety-related hardware, analyses, documents and procedures. This included establishing new operating conditions to provide added margin against pressure vessel failure, as well as the addition, or upgrading, of specific safety-related hardware. This paper summarizes the status of some of the follow-on (post-restart) activities which are currently in progress, and which will result in a comprehensive set of safety analyses and documentation for the HFIR, comparable with current practice in commercial nuclear power plants. 8 refs.