Manufacturing of neutron reflector frame for JMTR

Hanawa, Yoshio; Tsuboi, Kazuaki; Uchida, Munenori*; Suzuki, Ken*; Takahashi, Kunihiro

Beryllium has been used as the neutron reflector in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR). A beryllium frame is arranged in the JMTR core and the frame consists of 3 sections (North, East and West). Each section has 7 stories of the beryllium blocks. Each block is connected by the aluminum joints. The capsule or the beryllium plug is located in the inside of the beryllium frame. The first criticality achieved in 1968 and the frame has been replaced 6 times and now the 7th frame is being manufactured. The replacement is planned to be done in the spring of 2010. The design has been modified to decrease the swelling camber and the lifetime has been improved. The manufacturing procedure is severely controlled to assure the quality. The chemical composition must be specified to minimize the swelling and radiation. The machining procedure is highly controlled because beryllium is very brittle. And the environmental control is also important, because the beryllium is a toxic material.