Dual-core TRIGA research and materials testing reactor

General Atomic Company is under contract from the Romanian Institute for Nuclear Technologies to design, fabricate, and install a research reactor in support of the Romanian National Program for Power Reactor Development. The goal was to select a design concept that provided reasonably high neutron fluxes for long term testing of various fuel-cladding-coolant combinations and also provide high performance pulsing for transient testing of fuel specimens. An effective solution was achieved by the selection of a 14 MW steady-state TRIGA reactor for high flux endurance testing, and an Annular Core Pulsing Reactor (ACPR) for high performance pulsing testing, with both reactors mounted in the same reactor tank and operated independently. The fuel bundles for the steady-state reactor consist of 25 uranium-zirconium hydride rods clad in stainless steel arranged in a square 5 x 5 array. The steady-state core is provided with downflow cooling at a rate of approximately 275 gpm/bundle. Bundle flow tests will be performed with both heated and unheated models. The core will be optimized for peak thermal neutron flux and reactivity lifetime within the constraint of a peak fuel meat temperature of 7500C. The operation of the steady-state reactor at a power level of 14 MW will yield peak unperturbed thermal neutron fluxes in the central experiment position of 2.9 x 1014 n/cm2-sec. The corresponding fast neutron flux (less than 1.125 keV) will be 2.6 x 1014 nv. (U.S.)