Initial Neutronics Analyses for HEU to LEU Fuel Conversion of the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) at the Idaho National Laboratory

Abstract

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TREAT LEU Conversion Analyses Performed 2016-2018

“…Both the reflector and bioshield feature a variety of holes to allow for instrumentation use. Detailed descriptions of the current HEU fuel assembly design and TREAT facility can be found in previous conversion team reports [1,5] and in the facility's design summary report [6].…”

“…The TREAT LEU Conceptual Design (LEU-CD) was established based on lessons learned in the analysis and fabrication development efforts of the pre-conceptual and conceptual phases of the project [1][2][3]. The baseline design parameters and key assumptions are outlined in the November 2015 revision of the program's analysis guide [7].…”

“…Peak fuel temperatures were investigated in the accident analyses, with 820°C as an upper bounding case. For each cooling time history, the cumulative metal loss of the cladding (Zircaloy 4) was evaluated based on post-transition corrosion kinetics 1 . Details regarding corrosion kinetics have been reported in an earlier report [4].…”

“…Following pre-conceptual and conceptual phase LEU fuel design analyses [1][2][3], a baseline conceptual LEU fuel design was established in collaboration with INL and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Detailed analysis of the TREAT LEU conceptual design (LEU-CD) was presented in the March 2016 report ANL/RTR/TM-16/1 [4], with a subset of this information also included in the TREAT convert program's conceptual phase deliverable report.…”

TREAT Transient Analysis Benchmarking for the HEU Core

“…Steady state neutronics analyses of TREAT are currently being performed with the Monte Carlo simulation code MCNP. The 3D-detailed MCNP core model has been validated in previous studies [2] and [3]. Transient analyses of TREAT are performed with the point kinetics code TREKIN [4], which was extensively used during operation for experiment planning in the HEU core.…”