Thermal evaluation facility for LMFBR spent fuel transport

A full-scale mock-up of a 217 pin breeder reactor fuel assembly in a cylindrical pipe was initially designed and constructed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). It was transferred to Sandia where it was extensively redesigned and modified. The 217 pin hexagonal core assembly was installed in a smaller diameter stainless steel pipe which more closely represents the diameter of a shipping canister or shipping cask basket wall. Two-hundred four of the tubes are electrically heated over an active length of 4-feet and the remaining thirteen are instrumented with multiple junction thermocouples which can be traversed axially. Thermocouples and heat-flux gauges are located on the hex core and canister perimeters at several axial locations