Theoretical and experimental investigations of reactor parameters in a U-233 fuelled research reactor

Abstract

The Kalpakkam Mini Reactor (KAMINI) has the unique distinction of being the only operating pool type research reactor in the world at present, that utilizes U-233 as the fissile material. It is a 30 kW pool type reactor, operated with an alloy of U-233 and aluminium as fuel, light water as moderator and beryllium oxide as reflector. It is designed to operate at a maximum power level of 30 kW and mostly used for neutron radiography and neutron irradiation experiments. In the present work core calculations are carried out to estimate the worths of safety control plates (SCPs) and one adjustable reflector block of KAMINI by using the lattice homogenization code SMAXY and 3-D transport code TRITAC along with the WIMS cross-section data library. The worth of the SCPs is determined experimentally by rod drop method. A comparison of the calculated worth values, is done with the experimentally determined ones. The neutron spectra measurements carried out at two-sample irradiation locations, called thimble irradiation locations in KAMINI are also presented in this work. The neutron spectra at the thimble irradiation locations are generated by, the help of core calculations performed by SMAXY, TRITAC and WIMS combination. The measured total fluxes, fluxes in various neutron energy ranges and the gold reaction rates at both the thimble locations are compared with the calculated values. It is found that the calculated values of worths and fluxes match well with the measured values.