26.08.2015   Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities for. Converting U. S. and Russian Research Reactors

Current Conversion Status of U. S. and Russian Research Reactors

There were 34 civilian research reactors in operation in the United States in 2011 (Table 1-1)[21] As of June 2011, all but 8 of these reactors had been converted to LEU fuel. Two of these 8 reactors[22] appear to be convert­ible using current-type LEU fuels. DOE is completing studies to confirm the feasibility of converting these reactors using current-type LEU fuels. Additional research will be required to more fully develop the capability to fabricate these LEU fuels.

However, the following six reactors (including one critical assembly[23]) comprise what DOE refers to as “high-performance” reactors that pose many challenges for conversion, as discussed in more detail in Chapters 2 and 3:

• Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory

• The ATRC critical assembly associated with the ATR

• High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) in Cambridge

• Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia

• National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Germantown, Maryland

New high-density LEU fuels are now under development to convert these reactors (Roglans, 2011a). These fuel development efforts are described in Chapter 2.

TABLE 1-1 Civilian Research Reactors in Operation in the United States in 2011

Reactor

Institution,

Location

Thermal Power

(kW)

Peak Steady-State Thermal Flux (n/cm2-s)

Date of Commission

AFRI TRIGA*

AFRRI/ Bethesda, MD

1,000

1.0 X 1013

1/1/1962

AGN-201*

Idaho State

Univ.,

Pocatello

0.005

2.5 x 108

1/1/1967

AGN-201*

Univ. of New

Mexico,

Albuquerque

0.005

2.5 X 108

10/1/1966

AGN-201*

Texas A&M Univ., College Station

0.005

О

X

о

<N

1/1/1957

ARRR*

Aerotest, San Ramon, CA

250

3.0 X 1013

7/9/1964

ATR

Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls

250,000

8.5 x 1014

7/2/1967

DOW

TRIGA*

Dow

Chemical, Midland, MI

300

5.0 x 1012

7/6/1967

GSTR*

USGS, fc Denver, CO

1,000

3.0 x 1013

2/26/1969

HFIR

ORNL, C Oak Ridge, TN

85,000

2.5 x 1015

8/1/1965

KSU TRIGA MK II*

Kansas State Univ., Manhattan

250

1.0 x 1013

10/16/1962

MITR-II

Mass. Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA

6,000

7.0 x 1013

7/21/1958

MURR

Univ. of

Missouri,

Columbia

10,000

6.0 x 1014

10/13/1966

MUTR*

Univ. of Maryland, College Park

250

3.0 x 1012

12/1/1960

Reactor

Institution,

Location

Thermal Power (kW)

Peak Steady-State Thermal Flux (n/cm2-s)

Date of Commission

NBSR

NIST, d

Gaithersburg,

MD

20,000

4.0 x 1014

12/7/1967

NSCR*

Texas A&M Univ., College Station

1,000

2.0 x 1013

1/1/1962

NTR General Electric

GE, Sunol, CA

100

2.5 x 1012

11/15/1957

OSURR*

Ohio State

Univ.,

Columbus

500

1.5 x 1013

3/16/1961

OSTR*

Oregon State Univ., Covallis

1,100

1.0 x 1013

3/8/1967

PSBR*

Penn State,

University

Park

1,000

3.3 x 1013

8/15/1955

PULSTAR*

North

Carolina State Univ., Raleigh

1,000

1.1 x 1013

1/1/1972

PUR-1*

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN

1

2.1 x 1010

1/1/1962

RINSC*

Rhode Island Atomic Energy Commission, Narrangansett

2,000

2.0 x 1013

7/28/1964

RRF*

Reed College, Portland, OR

250

1.0 x 1013

7/2/1968

TREAT

Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls

250

5.0 x 1012

10/12/1977

TRIGA Univ. of AZ*

Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

100

2.0 x 1012

12/6/1958

TRIGA Univ. UT*

University of Utah, Salt Lake City

100

4.5 x 1012

10/25/1975

Reactor

Institution,

Location

Thermal Power (kW)

Peak Steady-State Thermal Flux (n/cm2-s)

Date of Commission

TRIGA II*

Univ. of Texas, Austin

1,100

2.7 x 1013

3/12/1992

UC Davis*

Univ. of

California,

Davis

2,000

3.0 x 1013

1/20/1990

UCI*

Univ. of

California,

Irvine

250

5.0 x 1012

11/25/1969

UFTR*

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville

100

2.0 x 1012

5/28/1959

UMLR*

Univ. of Mass., Lowell

1,000

1.4 x 1013

1/2/1975

UMRR*

Univ. of

Missouri,

Rolla

200

2.0 x 1012

12/11/1961

UWNR*

Univ. of

Wisconsin,

Madison

1,000

3.2 x 1013

3/26/1961

WSUR*

Washington State Univ., Pullman

1,000

7.0 x 1012

3/13/1961

NOTES:

^Currently operating with LEU fuel.

a Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute.

b U. S. Geological Survey.

c Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

d National Institute of Standards and Technology.

There were 24 operating research reactors, 30 critical assemblies, and 12 subcritical assemblies in the Russian Federation in 2011 (Bezzubtsev, 2011; see Figure 2-10 in Chapter 2).[24] Basic information on currently operating Russian research reactors is given in Table 1-2. Several civil­ian reactors pose substantive technical challenges to conversion, such as reactors using fuel pins consisting of UO2 dispersed in a copper-beryllium matrix with stainless steel cladding designed to operate at significantly higher fuel temperatures than most research reactors.

TABLE 1-2 Russian Research Reactors in Operation in 2011

Reactor

Institution,

Location

Thermal Power (kW)

Peak Steady-State Thermal Flux (n/cm2-s)

Date of Commission

Argus

Kurchatov,

Moscow

20

4.0 x 1011

12/1/1981

BOR-60

RIAR, a

Dmitrovgrad

60,000

2.0 x 1014

12/1/1969

F-1

Kurchatov,

Moscow

24

ON

О

X

о

12/25/1946

Gamma

Kurchatov,

Moscow

125

9.0 x 1011

1/4/1982

Hydra

Kurchatov,

Moscow

10

2.2 x 1010

1/1/1972

IBR-2M Pulsed R

JINR, fc Dunba

20,000

О

X

о

11/30/1977

IGRIK

Minatom,

Chelyabinsk

30

2.5 x 1010

12/15/1975

IR-8

Kurchatov,

Moscow

8,000

1.5 x 1014

8/12/1981

IR-50

NIKIET, c

Moscow

50

1.7 x 1012

2/20/1961

IRT

MEPhI, d

Moscow

2,500

4.8 x 1013

5/26/1967

IRT-T

Tomsk

Polytechnic

Institute

6,000

1.1 x 1014

7/22/1967

IRV-2M

Res. Inst. of Scientific Instruments, Lytkarino

4,000

8.0 x 1013

1/1/1974

IVV-2M

Inst. of Nuclear Mat., Zarechny

15,000

5.0 x 1014

4/22/1966

MIR. M1

RIAR,

Dmitrovgrad

100,000

5.0 x 1014

12/26/1966

OP-M

Kurchatov,

Moscow

300

8.4 x 1012

12/1/1989

PIK

Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute

100,000

4.0 x 1015

Under

construction

Reactor

Institution,

Location

Thermal Power

(kW)

Peak Steady-State Thermal Flux

(n/cm2-s)

Date of Commission

RBT-6

RIAR,

Dmitrovgrad

6,000

2.2 x 1014

1/10/1975

RBT-10/2

RIAR,

Dmitrovgrad

7,000

b

X

о

11/24/1983

SM-3

RIAR,

Dmitrovgrad

100,000

5.0 x 1015

1/10/1961

U-3

Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, St. Petersburg

50

12/13/1964

YAGUAR

Minatom,

Chelyabinsk

10

6/29/1990

WWR-M

Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute

18,000

1.5 x 1014

12/29/1959

WWR-TS

Karpov,

Obninsk

15,000

1.0 x 1014

11/4/1964

Note: This table does not include critical assemblies. a Research Institute for Atomic Reactors. b Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

c Dollezhal Scientific Research and Design Institute of Energy Technologies. d Moscow Engineering Physics Institute.

SOURCE: IAEA (2011).