A reactor physics survey of water moderated, uranium-aluminium plate fuelled research reactors for a range of uranium enrichment

Abstract

Results obtained from reactor physics calculations of water moderated research reactors with fuel in the form of uranium-aluminium alloy plates are presented. The major parameters considered are uranium enrichment, uranium weight per cent in the fuel meat, 35U loading per plate and the water gap between plates. The calculations are based on the SILOE reactor and particular emphasis is placed on the requirements for a proposed new AAEC research reactor. Sufficient detail is given to enable the determination of core size, fuel consumption rate and neutron flux levels in the core and reflector when this study is combined with a thermal-hydraulic analysis.