Estimation of exchange time for neutron startup sources of HTTR

Ono, Masato; Kozawa, Takayuki; Fujimoto, Nozomu*

JAEA-Technology 2019-012, 15 Pages, 2019/09

JAEA-Technology-2019-012.pdf:2.83MB

The High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor has a neutron source of Cf to start up the reactor and to confirm count rates of wide range monitors. The half-life of Cf is short, about 2.6 years, so it is necessary to replace at an appropriate time. In order to estimate the period to replace, it is necessary to consider not only the half-life but also the fluctuation of the count rate of the wide range monitor to prevent alarm. For that reason, the method has been derived to predict a minimum count rate from relationship between the count rate and the standard deviation of the count rate of the wide range monitors. As a result of predicting the count rate using this method, it was found that the minimum count rate reaches to 3.0cps in 2022 and 1.5 cps in 2024. Therefore, it is necessary to exchange Cf by 2024.

Development of transportation container for the neutron startup source of High Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR)

Shimazaki, Yosuke; Ono, Masato; Tochio, Daisuke; Takada, Shoji; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Kawamoto, Taiki; Hamamoto, Shimpei; Shinohara, Masanori

Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Research Reactor Fuel Management and Meeting of the International Group on Reactor Research (RRFM/IGORR 2016) (Internet), p.1034 - 1042, 2016/03

In High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), three neutron holders containing Cf with 3.7 GBq for each are loaded in the graphite blocks and inserted into the reactor core as a neutron startup source which is changed at the interval of approximately ten years. These neutron holders containing the neutron sources are transported from the dealer's hot cell to HTTR using the transportation container. The holders loading to the graphite block are carried out in the fuel handling machine maintenance pit of HTTR. There were two technical issues for the safety handling work of the neutron holder. The one is the radiation exposure caused by significant movement of the container due to an earthquake, because the conventional transportation container was so large (1240 mm, h1855 mm) that it can not be fixed on the top floor of maintenance pit by bolts. The other is the falling of the neutron holder caused by the difficult remote handling work, because the neutron holder capsule was also so long (155 mm, h1285 mm) that it can not be pulled into the adequate working space in the maintenance pit. Therefore, a new and low cost transportation container, which can solve the issues, was developed. To avoid the neutron and ray exposure, smaller transportation container (820mm, h1150 mm) which can be fixed on the top floor of maintenance pit by bolts was developed. In addition, to avoid the falling of the neutron holder, smaller neutron holder capsule (75 mm, h135 mm) with simple handling mechanism which can be treated easily by manipulator was also developed. As the result of development, the neutron holder handling work was safely accomplished. Moreover, a cost reduction for manufacturing was also achieved by simplifying the mechanism of neutron holder capsule and downsizing.