Report of the Materials Irradiation Facilities Improvements Committee

Abstract

Engineering materials irradiations form a substantial program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), relying mainly on the High-Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR). The HFIR neutron flux is high, but the reactor was not designed for materials irradiations; the lack of instrumented positions in the target region and the small size and limited number of positions in the high-flux region immediately outside the control plates pose particular disadvantages for this kind of research. Relatively minor modifications to the HFIR, at a cost of less than $2 million, would give it a first-class materials irradiation capability, capable of undertaking most of the experiments now performed at the ORR in one-half to one-third the time. The lack of comprehensive neutronics calculational capability at ORNL is a major drawback for experimenters and for the reactor operators, making it difficult to assess the feasibility of proposed new experiments or reactor improvements. The Operations Division should acquire the necessary computational capability, making use of new computational techniques and the newly available, more powerful computers as necessary. As a long-term prospect, when the proposed Center for Neutron Research (CNR) is build and the HFIR is no longer needed for neutron-scattering workmore » and isotope production, the HFIR core could be replaced by a general purpose materials testing reactor core; the result would be the world's finest materials testing facility for less than one-tenth the cost of a new reactor. The value of such a scheme will depend on the national need for materials irradiation testing and isotope production at the time that the CNR is commissioned.« less