The upgrade and conversion of the ET-RR-1 research reactor using plate type fuel elements

Abstract

Abstract The ET-RR-1 research reactor has been operated at 2 MW since 1961 using EK-10 fuel elements with 10% enriched uranium. The reactor has been used for nuclear applied research and isotope production. In order to upgrade the reactor power to a reasonable limit facing up-to-date uses, core conversion by a new type of fuel element available is necessary. Two fuel elements in plate type are suggested in this study to be used in the ET-RR-1 reactor core rather than the utilized ones. The first element has a dimension of 8×8×50 cm and consists of 19.7% enriched uranium, which is typical for that utilized in the ET RR-2 reactor, but with a different length. The other element is proposed with a dimension of 7×7×50 cm and has the same uranium enrichment. To accomplish safety requirements for these fuel elements, thermal-hydraulic evaluation has been carried out using the PARET code. To reach a core conversion of the ET-RR-1 reactor with the above two types of fuel elements, neutronic calculations have been performed using WIMSD4, DIXY2 and EREBUS codes. Some important nuclear parameters needed in the physical design of the reactor were calculated and included in this study.