Primary disassembly of Light Water Breeder Reactor modules for core evaluation (LWBR Development Program)

After successfully operating for 29,047 effective full power hours, the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core was defueled prior to total decommissioning of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station. All nuclear fuel and much of the reactor internal hardware was removed from the reactor vessel. Non-fuel components were prepared for shipment to disposal sites, and the fuel assemblies were partially disassembled and shipped to the Expended Core Facility (ECF) in Idaho. At ECF, the fuel modules underwent further disassembly to provide fuel rods for nondestructive testing to establish the core's breeding efficiency and to provide core components for examinations to assess their performance characteristics. This report presents a basic description of the processes and equipment used to disassemble LWBR fuel modules for subsequent proof-of-breeding (POB) and core examination operations. Included are discussions of module handling fixtures and equipment, the underwater milling machine and bandsaw assemblies, and the associated design and operation of this equipment for LWBR fuel module disassembly