Irradiation growth of graphite in reflector elements of JRR-4

Horiguchi, Hironori; Shibata, Taiju; Yagi, Masahiro; Yokoo, Kenji; Oyama, Koji; Kusunoki, Tsuyoshi

no journal, , 

The Japan Research Reactor No.4 (JRR-4) are used for medical irradiation (Boron Neutron Capture Therapy), education and training for engineers, activation analysis and researches in various fields. A crack was found on the weld of aluminum cladding of a reflector element, in which graphite reflector was set. A survey on the reflector element confirmed that the crack was caused by growth of graphite. The growth of graphite was observed in the other reflector elements by the radiographic testing (RT). In order to understand the relations between irradiation fluence and irradiation growth, the dimensions of irradiated graphite reflectors were precisely measured after dismantling the reflector elements. We revealed that the growth of graphite increased with fast neutron fluence at low temperature which was estimated below 200C under JRR-4 operation condition.