Abstract
VENUS-F is a fast zero power reactor with 30 wt% U fuel and Pb/Bi as a coolant simulator. Depending on the experimental configuration, various neutron spectra (fast, epithermal, and thermal islands) are present. This paper gives a review of the nuclear instrumentation that is applied for reactor control and in a large variety of physics experiments. Activation foils and fission chambers are used to measure spatial neutron flux profiles, spectrum indices, reactivity effects (with positive period and compensation method or the MSM method) and kinetic parameters (with the Rossi-alpha method). Fission chamber calibrations are performed in the standard irradiation fields of the BR1 reactor (prompt fission neutron spectrum and Maxwellian thermal neutron spectrum).
Highlights
VENUS is a zero power reactor that is in operation at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCKCEN since 1964
In the frame of lead-based fast reactor and accelerator driven system research, and in particular for the MYRRHA project [1], VENUS was transformed to a mock-up of a fast reactor (VENUS-F) that can be operated in critical and sub-critical mode
Every VENUS-F reactor startup is driven by an external AmBe source, which can be inserted in the radial reflector, see top part of Fig. 1
Summary
VENUS is a zero power reactor that is in operation at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCKCEN since 1964. Until 2007 VENUS was a thermal, water moderated reactor that mostly served as a mock-up for PWR and BWR reactors. In the frame of lead-based fast reactor and accelerator driven system research, and in particular for the MYRRHA project [1], VENUS was transformed to a mock-up of a fast reactor (VENUS-F) that can be operated in critical and sub-critical mode. For the latter, the GENEPI-3C accelerator was installed at SCKCEN. The importance of accurate detector calibration and the importance of the support of MCNP calculations is indicated
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