Petten Establishment. Annual Report 1979

Joint Research Centre

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• Publié par: JOINT-RESEARCH-CENTRE
• Nombre de lectures: 6
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

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Commission of the
European Communities
Joint Research Centre
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Ji Annual Report 1979
EUR 6818 EN FS Published by the
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Directorate-General 'Scientific and Technical Information and Information Management'
Bâtiment Jean Monnet
LUXEMBOURG
LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting
on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made
of the following information
(C) ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1980
Printed in the FR of Germany
ISBN 92-825-1832-9 Catalogue number: CD-NE-80-008-EN-C INTRODUCTION
In introducing the 1979 annua/ report I would like to draw your attention to a number of changes and events
which have occurred during the year. These developments will affect not only the day-to-day lives and work
of our staff, but some of them are already to be seen by the visitor on entering the Establishment by the new
road and by the scientist interested in the behaviour of stressed metals subjected to aggressive atmospheres at
high temperatures. On the other hand, users of the HFR reactor have become aware of the increased work
load by the difficulty of finding position for their experiments.
Beginning with the Establishment itself. In April, the protective fence surrounding the HFR was completed
and the installation of a special guard force took place. From that date all entry and exit has been under
close supervision.
Next, in December, the perimeter of the site was reduced to a minimum and provided with a new and
stronger security fence. A new road has been opened to connect the public highway to the Establishment's
main gate. The changes are the result of several years of effort and form a part of the precautions taken by
the European Commission to ensure the safekeeping of nuclear materials and plant.
Turning to the main activities of the Establishment, the "Environmental Test Laboratory" for carrying out
research on materials for industrial service in contact with atmospheres containing impure hydrocarbons was
completed. This permits working with a range of equipment containing toxic and explosive gases at high
temperatures. The special building, needed for the Environmental Test Laboratory was opened in March by
Dr. K. Halpin, chairman of the relevant Programme Management Committee and important parts of the
High Temperature Materials' experimental work is performed there.
A landmark in the operating life of the reactor HFR has been reached with occupation levels of 74 to
76°Jo throughout the year. This means that effectively all of the high flux positions have been in continuous
use and that a considerable competition for space has occurred.
The Organic Laboratory has continued to prepare reference materials for industrial and scientific uses and to
develop methods of analysis when needed.
During the year, the staff has presented their work at a number of international conferences and two have
been held at Petten, on Irradiation Tests for Reactor Safety Programmes in June, and on the Behaviour of
High Temperature Alloys in Aggressive Environments in October.
I conclude by thanking the staff whose work appears in this document and the others whose help and
support have made it possible.
P.J. van Westen
Director g ÛF OûtMTE^
INTRODUCTION
HFR DIVISION
MATERIALS DIVISION 37
GENERAL SERVICES 77
91 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
95 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
97 GLOSSARY HFR DIVISION
page
INTRODUCTION 7
9 1. OPERATION OF HFR PETTEN
9 1.1 GENERAL
11 1.2 HFR OPERATION
11 1.2.1 Operation Summary
11 1.2.2 Maintenancey
13 1.2.3 Improvements, Support, Development
13 1.2.4 HFR Nuclear Characteristics
14 1.2.5 Fuel Cycle
UTILIZATION OF THE REACTOR 19 2.
2.1 GENERAL 19
2.2 IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS 22
2.2.1 Graphite 22
24 2.2.2 HTR Fuel
24 2.2.3 Structural Materials
26 2.2.4 Light Water Reactor Fuel
28 2.2.5 Fast Reactor Fuel
29 2.3 BEAM TUBE EXPERIMENTS (ECN PETTEN)
29 2.3.1 Solid State Physics
29 Nuclear Physcis 2.3.2
32 RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION 2.4
35 2.5 ACTIVATION ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION
The HFR Division ¡s in charge of operation and utilisation of the High Flux Reactor Petten
(point F.1 of the 1980/83 Joint Research Centre Programme). The main purpose of the
reactor is to perform neutron irradiation experiments in the interest of
increased safety of operating and future power reactors,
improved economy ofg power reactors,
better understanding of fundamental material structures and properties,
production of radioisotopes for medical, industrial, and scientific applications.
In terms of the nature of specimens irradiated, the distribution during the year 1979 was
approximately as follows (in percentages of the used capacity) :
Graphite, and HTR fuel 23
Structural materials 17
LWRfuel2
Fast breeder reactor fuel 9
Solid state and nuclear physics6
Radioisotopes
Miscellaneous 7
Users of HFR Petten derive special benefit from :
the high neutron fluxes available in rather large irradiation volumes,
the availability of reloadable standard irradiation devices, including power cycling
facilities,
reliable and detailed information on neutron fluxes and spectra, and of nuclear heating
data,
the accurate and predictable operation of the reactor according to the annual cycle
calendar,
the availability of all. necessary support services and of advanced equipment and
instrumentation,
the continuous improvement and modernization of the reactor and its ancillary
laboratories.
As a typical Materials Testing Reactor (MTR), the High Flux Reactor (HFR) Petten uses
plate-type fuel elements with fully enriched uranium and burnable poison, light water
cooling/moderating, and beryllium moderating/reflecting.
The operating pattern of the HFR follows a 28-days' period, comprising 26 days of actual
reactor operation, followed by a 2-days' regular reactor shut-down. This shut-down period is
used for installation and reloading of the irradiation rigs, maintenance to the reactor and
experiment facilities, and for refuelling.
The HFR is operated at 45MW for approximately 285 days per year. Two extended shut­
down periods, i.e. a 3-weeks' period for maintenance and modifications at the beginning of
the year, and a 4-weeks' period for holidays and maintenance during the summer season,
interrupt the reactor operation during each year.
The tight inspection and maintenance schedule, together with a continuous process of
replacement and renewal of components, has kept the plant in an excellent condition.
Outages due to component failures are practically unknown. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
ORRTYPE
45MW( 50)
H20 COOLED/MODERATED Be MODERATED/REFLECTED
MTR (PLATE) TYPE FUEL ELEMENTS,
93°/o ENRICHED, 1g 10B PER ELEMENT
29 IRRADIATION POSITIONS, 11 HORIZONTAL BEAM TUBES
COOLANT PRESSURE 0,24 MPa, COOLANT TEMPERATURE 313 K
ANNUAL AVAILABILITY 75 °/o AVERAGE UTILIZATION 77°/o
MAIN UTILIZATION
o FAST BREEDER REACTOR STRUCTURAL MATERIALS
IRRADIATIONS,
o FAST BREEDER REACTOR FUEL PIN TESTING UNDER ABNORMAL
CONDITIONS AND UNDER OPERATIONAL TRANSIENTS
o LIGHT WATER REACTOR FUEL PIN POWER RAMPING
o HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS COOLED REACTOR GRAPHITE AND FUEL
ELEMENT IRRADIATIONS
o NUCLEAR STRUCTURE AND SOLID STATE PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS
o RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION, ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
o NEUTRON RADIOGRAPHY, NEUTRON DOSIMETRY DEVELOPMENT.