A model has been developed to predict the long-term
oxidation rate of Zircaloy-4 for ex-reactor (autoclave) and
in-reactor (PWR) environments and operating conditions. A
computer program has been written to solve the oxygen
diffusion equation by employing a fully implicit finite
difference method for a one dimensional cylindrical
geometry. The...
Carboxylic acids have played an important role in the field of actinide (An) and lanthanide (Ln) separations and the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. Recent bench-scale experiments have demonstrated that 3-carboxy-3-hydroxypentanedioic acid (citric acid) is a promising aqueous complexant that can effectively aid in the separation of transition metals from...
In 2008, the Oregon State TRIGA® Reactor (OSTR) was converted from highly-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel lifetime improvement plan (FLIP) fuel to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. This effort was driven and supported by the Department of Energy's (DoE's) Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program. The basis behind the...
In order to address the energy needs of developing countries and remote communities, Oregon State University has proposed the Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR) design. In order to achieve five years of operation without refueling, use of 8% enriched fuel is necessary.
This dissertation is focused on core design...
Oregon State University is home to a TRIGA® Mark II reactor. In October of 2008, the reactor began operating on low enriched uranium fuel. A model of the facility exists in MCNP, a Monte Carlo code that can be used for criticality calculations. Until now, a bias in the calculation...
Interest in increased fuel supply stability has driven an investigation into possible alternate fuel for use in the WWR-SM research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Uzbekistan. The WWR-SM is a high-power, pool-type research reactor currently utilizing IRT-4M fuel made by a single Russian supplier. A candidate for...
The need for cheap reliable energy, while simultaneously avoiding uranium supply constraints makes uranium carbide (UC) fueled Gas Fast Reactors offer an attractive nuclear reactor design. In order to qualify the fuel, an enhanced understanding of the behavior of uranium carbide during operation is paramount. Due to a reduced re-solution...
The goal of Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative program is to efficiently separate and recover actinides in attempts to reprocess irradiated nuclear fuel and reduce the necessary storage volume. In order to facilitate large-scale industrial
applications of liquid-liquid separation processes, knowledge of the thermodynamic constants associated with the distribution of metal...
In this work, three isomeric forms of N, N'-diethyl, N, N'-ditolyldipicolinamide (EtTDPA) were synthesized. The elements thorium through americium, which make up a significant portion of the actinides in used nuclear fuel (with the exception of curium), and two fission products, molybdenum and technetium, were tested for their ability to...
A transient code (TFETC) for calculating the temperature
distribution throughout the radial and axial positions of a
thermionic fuel element (TFE) has been successfully developed.
It accommodates the variations of temperatures, thermal power,
electrical power, voltage, and current density throughout the
TFE as a function of time as well as...
The most widely used and versatile medical radioisotope today is technetium-99m. Roughly 30 million people depend on this radioisotope for diagnostic procedures each year, and this demand is expected to grow. Although there are numerous ways of procuring this isotope, the most common and most practical, for reasons to be...
Lattice bum-up calculations in thermal reactors are complicated by the necessity
for use of transport theory to represent fuel rods, control rods, and burnable absorbers,
by many time-dependent variables which must be considered in the analysis, and by
geometric complexity which introduces time-dependent, spatial-spectral variations.
Representation of lattice structure in...
Because of the high cost of fuel for nuclear reactors, fuel cycle
costs must be predicted accurately.
This leads to the high cost computer computations and a search for cheaper yet still accurate
methods. For this paper we have chosen to study an alternate
method for calculating thermal neutron cell...
Partitioning of trivalent actinides (in particular, americium and curium) from the
fission produced light lanthanides is a major concern of used nuclear fuel reprocessing for
the purposes of waste disposal. Several solvent extraction processes have been developed
to address these chemically difficult separations. The historically employed TALSPEAK
Process utilizes di-2-ethylhexyl...
The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), under the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) Program and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), is conducting feasibility studies for the conversion of its fuel from a highly enriched uranium (HEU) composition to a low enriched uranium (LEU) composition. These studies have...
A scaling analysis of the Oregon State University (OSU) - Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR) system has been developed, and an existing RELAP5-3D model of the facility was improved. The purpose of this study is to support the research of hybrid energy systems, being led by Idaho National Laboratory...
With the advent of next generation reactor systems and new fuel designs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has identified the need for the resumption of transient testing of nuclear fuels. The DOE has decided that the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is best suited...
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) resultant from the generation of nuclear power is a chemically and radiologically diverse system which is advantageous to chemically process prior to geologic disposal. Hydrometallurgy is the primary technology for chemical processing for light water reactor spent fuels, where spent fuel is dissolved in an acid...
Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) contains transuranic (TRU) elements and numerous fission products as a result of the uranium fission process and neutron activation that occur in commercial light water power reactors. Recent environmental and nuclear proliferation concerns have spawned the development of advanced reprocessing techniques to close the nuclear fuel...
The hydrogen economy is a possible component of an energy future based on use of alternative and renewable energy sources, deemed desirable from the general consensus of the worldwide community that we do not want to further exacerbate the climate problems that we have introduced over the last two centuries...