TY - GEN
T1 - Hydraulic shuttle irradiation system (HSIS) recently installed in the advanced test reactor (ATR)
AU - Palmer, A. Joseph
AU - McCormick, G. L.
AU - Corrigan, S. J.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Most test reactors are equipped with shuttle facilities (sometimes called rabbit tubes) whereby small capsules can be inserted into the reactor and retrieved during power operations. With the installation of the Hydraulic Shuttle Irradiation System (HSIS), this capability has been restored to the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The general design and operating principles of this system were patterned after the hydraulic rabbit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), which has operated successfully for many years. Using primary coolant as the motive medium, the HSIS is designed to simultaneously transport fourteen shuttle capsules, each 16 mm OD x 57 mm long, to and from the B-7 position of the reactor. The available space inside each shuttle is approximately 14 mm diameter x 50 mm long. The B-7 position is one of the higher flux positions in the reactor with typical thermal and fast (>1 Mev) fluxes of 2.8E+14 n/cm2/sec and 1.9E+14 n/cm2/sec respectively. The shuttle containers are made from titanium which was selected for its low neutron activation properties and durability. Shuttles can be irradiated for time periods ranging from a few minutes to several months. The Send and Receive Station (SRS) for the HSIS is located 2.5 m deep in the ATR canal which allows irradiated shuttles to be easily moved from the SRS to a wet loaded cask, or transport pig. The HSIS system first irradiated (empty) shuttles in September 2009 and has since completed a Readiness Assessment in November 2009. The HSIS is a key component of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) and is available to a wide variety of university researchers for nuclear fuels and materials experiments as well as medical isotope research and production.
AB - Most test reactors are equipped with shuttle facilities (sometimes called rabbit tubes) whereby small capsules can be inserted into the reactor and retrieved during power operations. With the installation of the Hydraulic Shuttle Irradiation System (HSIS), this capability has been restored to the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The general design and operating principles of this system were patterned after the hydraulic rabbit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), which has operated successfully for many years. Using primary coolant as the motive medium, the HSIS is designed to simultaneously transport fourteen shuttle capsules, each 16 mm OD x 57 mm long, to and from the B-7 position of the reactor. The available space inside each shuttle is approximately 14 mm diameter x 50 mm long. The B-7 position is one of the higher flux positions in the reactor with typical thermal and fast (>1 Mev) fluxes of 2.8E+14 n/cm2/sec and 1.9E+14 n/cm2/sec respectively. The shuttle containers are made from titanium which was selected for its low neutron activation properties and durability. Shuttles can be irradiated for time periods ranging from a few minutes to several months. The Send and Receive Station (SRS) for the HSIS is located 2.5 m deep in the ATR canal which allows irradiated shuttles to be easily moved from the SRS to a wet loaded cask, or transport pig. The HSIS system first irradiated (empty) shuttles in September 2009 and has since completed a Readiness Assessment in November 2009. The HSIS is a key component of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA) and is available to a wide variety of university researchers for nuclear fuels and materials experiments as well as medical isotope research and production.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77956220108
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77956220108
SN - 9781617386435
T3 - International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants 2010, ICAPP 2010
SP - 2045
EP - 2051
BT - International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants 2010, ICAPP 2010
T2 - International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants 2010, ICAPP 2010
Y2 - 13 June 2010 through 17 June 2010
ER -