The Ongoing Status of the Project on Feasibility Studies for the Conversion of the IR-8 Reactor to LEU Fuel

The IR-8 pool type research reactor up to 8 MW power was commissioned in 1981 for carrying out fundamental and applied researches in various areas of science and technique. The IR-8 reactor was developed to replace the IRT-M reactor (the IRT reactor originally built in 1957 and modernized in 1965 and 1971). The IR-8 reactor design was founded on application developed by then new IRT-3M fuel assemblies (FA), having two times as great heat transfer surface and 1.75 times higher 235U load than the IRT-2M FA, which were used in IRT-M reactor. The reactor is currently operating with HEU (90% 235U enrichment) fuel of Russian origin. The GTRI-Reactor Conversion program develops the technical means to enable the conversion of research reactors to the use of LEU fuel. Currently, Implementing Agreement between the Rosatom State Corporation for Atomic Energy and the Department of Energy of the United States of America Regarding Cooperation in Conducting Feasibility Studies of the Conversion of Russian Research Reactors for the use of low enriched uranium fuel, was reached. NRC began to study the feasibility of conversion of the IR-8 reactor from HEU to LEU (19.7% U235 enrichment) fuel. The initial step is to perform analysis sufficient to determine whether conversion from HEU to LEU fuel is feasible. This work is funded by U.S. Department of Energy. Argonne National Laboratory provides analytical support to the work in the performance of the analysis tasks for analysis verification purposes. (author)