Commercial in Confidence

New Research Reactors Projects

Enfir, October 2009

Research Reactors

• Many different types:– Different uses

– From Watts to hundreds of MW

– From tens to hundreds of million dollars

– Different layouts

– Different fuels

– Different coolants, temperatures and pressures

– Most important, different uses!

Uses of Research Reactors

• Education and training

• Multipurpose:– Radioisotope production & beams and/or material testing

• Single purpose:– Radioisotope production

– Beam research

– Material testing

• Prototypes, including critical facilities

Education and training reactors

• From some kilowatts to a few Megawatts

• Normally in close contact with university

• Flexible, ultrasafe

• Training facilities

• Some but limited research capabilities

Multipurpose Reactors

• Radioisotope production is always included

• There are then three types of multipurpose reactors:

– Radioisotope production and beams

– Radioisotope production and material testing

– Radioisotope production, beams and material testing

Beams and Radioisotopes

• Tens of Megawatts

• High power density, compact core

• OPAL

Material Testing and Radioisotopes

• Tens of Megawatts

• In-core irradiation capabilities

• Osiris, BR-2, Pallas

Ri, Beams and Material Testing

• Tens of Megawatts

• In-core irradiation: large core

• Beams in the reflector

HFIR, HFR, ETRR-2

Radioisotope production dedicated reactors

• Ten Megawatts is enough

• Maple reactors are the only example

• Silicide irradiation is a possibility

Beam Reactors

• High fluxes

• Tens of MW

• Cold neutron source

• Scientific users

• ILL, FRM-II

Material Testing Reactors

• Several tens of MW, even more than 100 MW

• In-core irradiation loops

• Main user is the nuclear industry

• Other industrial users

• ATR, Halden, JHR

Project issues

• Turnkey or open packages?

• If it is open package:– Nuclear island and BOP?

– Who is the design authority?

– Control of interfaces

• If it is turnkey:– Specify performance acceptance criteria

– Scope of owner's and local participation

Recommended practices

• Visit existing facilities and interact with their owners

• Involve the community of users: physicians, scientists, nuclear industry

• Form a strong owner's project group

• Spent some time in designing the project processes

• Early involvement of the research reactor supplier/s is fundamental

Almost mandatory design features

• Fuel element: Plate type fuel elements

• Enrichment: LEU, i.e. lower than 20%

• Flexibility for changing fuel material

• Lay-out: pool type

• Two shutdown systems

• Secondary control point

• IAEA standards as a minimum requisite

Design features to be decided

• Reflector: Be or heavy water or both?

• Primary system: pressurized or not?

• Confinement or containment?

• Control rods from below?

• Cold source?

• Hot cells on top of pool: how many, how large?

• Site!!!!

Site features that impact design

• Aircraft impact

• Design earthquake

• Soil characteristics

• Final heat source

• Local regulations

Mes melhores desejos e

muito obrigado!

INVAP S.E.Founded: September 1st, 1976

Company: State owned – Rio Negro

Operation: As a private company» No budget allocated

» No tax exemptions

» All dividends reinvested

Headquarters: Bariloche, Argentina

Subsidiaries: Australia, Brazil, Egypt, USA

Revenues: ~$70 MM USD (2007)

Staff: 630 (over 70% engineers)

Exports: ~500 MUSD

R&D-trained staff80 Science Degree

20 PhDs

230 Engineers

200 Qualified Technicians

80+ Electronics Eng.30+ Nuclear Eng.30+ Industrial/process Eng.15+ Aerospace Eng.25+ Chemical Eng.25+ Mechanical Eng.

11 in Physics10 in Chemistry26 in IT3 in others sciences

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