Development of Irradiation Test Devices for Transient Testing

Woolstenhulme, Nicolas E.; Baker, C.; Jensen, Colby; Chapman, Daniel; Imholte, D. Devin; Oldham, Nate; Hill, Connie M.; Snow, Spencer D.

doi:10.1080/00295450.2019.1590072

Cited by 26 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The absence of liquid coolant or pressure vessel surrounding the reactor simplified lead routing for facilitating transient tests in which real-time experiment data was crucial for understanding the data objectives. This package-type approach was key for enabling TREAT to address specimen coolant conditions and research needs for a variety of reactor designs [13].…”

Section: Facility Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)

Woolstenhulme¹

2022

Nuclear Reactors - Spacecraft Propulsion, Research Reactors, and Reactor Analysis Topics

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Constructed in the late 1950s, the Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT) provided numerous transient irradiations until operation was suspended in 1994. It was later refurbished, and resumed operations in 2017 to meet the data needs of a new era of nuclear fuel safety research. TREAT uses uranium oxide dispersed in graphite blocks to yield a core that affords strong negative temperature feedback. Automatically controlled, fast-acting transient control rods enable TREAT to safely perform extreme power maneuvers—ranging from prompt bursts to longer power ramps—to broadly support research on postulated accidents for many reactor types. TREAT’s experiment devices work in concert with the reactor to contain specimens, support in situ diagnostics, and provide desired test environments, thus yielding a uniquely versatile facility. This chapter summarizes TREAT’s design, history, current efforts, and future endeavors in the field of nuclear-heated fuel safety research.

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Section: Facility Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)

Woolstenhulme¹

2022

Nuclear Reactors - Spacecraft Propulsion, Research Reactors, and Reactor Analysis Topics

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“…TREAT offers the unique flexibility to serve many fuel and reactor designs by enabling a modular experiment strategy, as well as a highly agile control rod system for tailoring desired power histories for experiments [9]. Special experimental devices have been (and are currently) under development to aid in performing integral LOCA experiments and related separate-effects studies [10]. TREAT is an adiabaUc, transient-shaping reactor with an air-cooled core.…”

Section: Treat and The Treat Loca Devicementioning

confidence: 99%

Combined TREAT-LOC and SATS LOCA Experiment Plan: Integral LOCA Experiments on High-Burnup Fuels

Armstrong,

Jensen,

Folsom

et al. 2022

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IntroducConThe Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) loss-of-coolant (LOC) and high-burnup (HBu) experiment series, along with the Severe Accident Test StaUon (SATS) HBu experiment series, are integral LOC accident (LOCA) experiments planned under DOE's AFC program. These experiments aim to support burnup extension needs by addressing idenUfied R&D prioriUes in order to achieve an improved understanding of HBu fuel fragmentaUon, relocaUon, and dispersal (FFRD) during LOCA events. Data generated under this plan will be used to further validate and confirm exisUng models and inform future R&D and model development.* Fuel length will be limited to the distance between grid spacers, or would include a grid spacer if present in the commercial irradia8on (likely applicable for 50-cm-long specimens in TREAT). Most semi-integral furnace tests have been conducted on segments with a length of nearly 30 cm.

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“…An effort has been underway to design and improve upon the previous vehicle concepts since the restart of the TREAT reactor. 8,18 Development of the full ATF fuel performance basis requires the development of vehicles and capsules suitable for efficient transient experimentation. 18,19 When evaluating the FOMs and design considerations for the ATF campaign, there are numerous requirements that must be taken into consideration.…”

Section: Review Of Previous Treat Vehicle Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Separate Effects Transient Test Experiments Using an Out-of-Pile Flowing Water Loop

et al. 2020

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In 2017 the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility was restarted after having been placed in a standby state in 1994. The TREAT reactor's restart has since enabled the progressive development of new nuclear technologies within the United States that previously were outsourced to other countries. While the reactor's restart was a large feat worthy of recognition, the experimental use of its characteristics has required further development of an in-pile experimental infrastructure sufficient to support programmatic needs. This hardware has taken the form of capsule designs (compact and elongated) as well as loop concepts representing the phenomena of interest for a subset of the separate effects tests desired for each respective testing campaign. The transient testing program has been a large integrated effort that aligns with the U.S. Department of Energy's current needs. This study complements those programmatic elements by developing, fabricating, and demonstrating a full-scale flowing water loop in an out-of-pile environment. The goal of this effort is to develop a pragmatic understanding of the engineering capabilities and limitations associated with geometric form factors, metering technology, and controls logic under the representative thermal-hydraulic conditions that would be experienced within the TREAT reactor during an in-pile reactivity-initiated accident test. The outcomes of this study result in an evaluation of the conceptual design of a comprehensive flowing water loop, including objective figures of merit for comparing unique instrumentation and the basis for their selection during operations. These efforts directly contribute to and are required for the further advancement of transient testing capabilities within the United States.

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Development of Irradiation Test Devices for Transient Testing

Cited by 26 publications

References 16 publications

The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)

The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)

Combined TREAT-LOC and SATS LOCA Experiment Plan: Integral LOCA Experiments on High-Burnup Fuels

Developing Separate Effects Transient Test Experiments Using an Out-of-Pile Flowing Water Loop

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