Abstract
A set of benchmarks based on the experimental data from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) is being compiled as part of International Reactor Physics Experiments Evaluation Reactor Physics Experiments Evaluation Project (IRPhEP). The initial benchmark that will be available in the 2019 edition of the IRPhEP handbook covers the first zero-power criticality experiment. Follow up benchmarks are under development based on the series of control rod calibration experiments performed at the MSRE, which consisted in progressive addition of a small amount (85g) of 235U in the salt followed by the insertion of the control rods acts to compensate for the excess reactivity insertion. Multiple reactivity effects and coefficients measurements are included in the benchmark: differential worth of a control rod, reactivity equivalent of 235U addition, control rod bank worth, reactivity effect of fuel circulation, isothermal temperature coefficient and fuel temperature coefficient. An uncertainty of 2% is attributed to the reported reactivity measurements from experimenters and it was believed that the uncertainty of reactor period measurement contributed the most of the experimental uncertainty. An additional 2% uncertainty was added to all reactivity measurements to represent the uncertainty for the correction factor applied to pull all the measurements on the same uranium concentration and this uncertainty was reasonably inferred by evaluating this factor on the MSRE benchmark model. The calculated reactivity equivalent of 235U additions (0.2228±0.0014, represented as the change of reactivity over the relative change of 235U mass in loop) matches well with the experiment value (0.223±0.006). Most of other calculations, including the control rod bank worth, reactivity effects of fuel circulation and isothermal and fuel temperature coefficients fall within one standard deviation from the experimental values as well.
Highlights
The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and was operated between 1965 and 1969, aiming to demonstrate key features of the molten salt liquid fuel reactor concept and to prove the practicality of the molten salt reactor (MSR) technology
Additional MSRE benchmarks have been developed based on the series of control rod calibration experiments performed at the MSRE following the first zero-power critical experiment in June 1965 [1]
This paper describes the evaluation of the control rod calibration experiments on MSRE at zero power, including differential worth of control rod, reactivity equivalent of 235U addition, control rod bank worth, reactivity effects of fuel circulation, isothermal temperature coefficient and fuel temperature coefficient measurements
Summary
The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and was operated between 1965 and 1969, aiming to demonstrate key features of the molten salt liquid fuel reactor concept and to prove the practicality of the molten salt reactor (MSR) technology This was the first large-scale, long-term, high-temperature testing performed for a liquid fuel salt, graphite moderator and new nickel-based alloys in a reactor environment [1, 2]. The University of California, Berkeley and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have collaborated to create the first MSR-related benchmark based on the MSRE for the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) handbook, available in the 2019 edition This initial MSRE benchmark covers the first zero-power criticality experiment with 235U and it provides a fully-detailed, peerreviewed benchmark model. This paper describes the evaluation of the control rod calibration experiments on MSRE at zero power, including differential worth of control rod, reactivity equivalent of 235U addition, control rod bank worth, reactivity effects of fuel circulation, isothermal temperature coefficient and fuel temperature coefficient measurements
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