Publications

This presentation titled "Updates on UO₂-BeO Experiment (IER 523)" covers experiment status, experiment motivation, CED-1 summary, current efforts (CED-2), and includes a concluding summary.

The purpose of this proposal is to design a new integral critical experiment to investigate the effects of beryllium oxide and high assay low-enriched uranium fuels. this proposal considers using several existing resources at Sandia: (1) the Critical Experiments (SCX) facility and water tank, (2) spare UO₂-BeO fuel for the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR), and 7uPCX fuel rods from previous benchmark experiments.

This lecture is on the design of a Uranium Dioxide-Beryllium Oxide UO₂-BeO Critical Experiment at Sandia. This presentation provides background info on the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR). Additionally, this presentation shows experimental and alternative designs and concludes with a sensitivity analysis.

Sandia National Labs has access to unused ACRR fuel, which is unique in its enrichment 35% and material composition BeO. ACRR fuel is available in quantities well above what is needed for experiments. Two experiment concepts have been investigated: UO₂BeO fuel elements and pellets with 7uPCX fuel. The worth of UO₂BeO is large enough to be well above the anticipated experiment uncertainties.

This report documents the feasibility phase of the Critical Experiment Design (CED) conducted as part of integral experiment request (IER) 523. The purpose of IER-523 is to explore the effects of using 35 weight percent enriched uranium dioxide-beryllium oxide (UO₂-BeO) material on critical configurations using the Seven Percent Critical Experiment (7uPCX) at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia). Preliminary experiment design concepts, neutronic analysis results, and proposed paths for continuing the CED process are presented.