Research reactor

Short description: Nuclear device not intended for power or weapons

## Contents

* 1 Purpose
* 2 Technical aspects
* 3 Conversion to low enriched uranium
* 4 Designers and constructors
* 5 Classes of research reactors
* 6 Research centers
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Purpose

Overhead view of the core of the RA-3 Research and Production Reactor (CNEA, Argentina)

The neutrons produced by a research reactor are used for neutron scattering, non-destructive testing, analysis and testing of materials, production of radioisotopes, research and public outreach and education. Research reactors that produce radioisotopes for medical or industrial use are sometimes called isotope reactors. Reactors that are optimised for beamline experiments nowadays compete with spallation sources.

## Technical aspects

Science with neutrons

Foundations

* Neutron temperature
* Flux * Radiation * Transport
* Cross section * Absorption * Activation

Neutron scattering

* Neutron diffraction
* Small-angle neutron scattering
* GISANS
* Reflectometry
* Inelastic neutron scattering
* Triple-axis spectrometer
* Time-of-flight spectrometer
* Backscattering spectrometer
* Spin-echo spectrometer

Other applications

* Neutron tomography
* Activation analysis * Prompt gamma activation analysis
* Fundamental research with neutrons: Ultracold neutrons * Interferometry
* Fast neutron therapy
* Neutron capture therapy

Infrastructure

* Neutron sources: Research reactor * Spallation * Neutron moderator
* Neutron optics: Reflector * Guide * Supermirror * Polarizer
* Detection

Neutron facilities

* America: HFIR * LANSCE * NIST CNR -SNS
* Australia: OPAL
* Asia: J-PARC * HANARO
* Europe: BER II * FRM II * ILL * ISIS Neutron and Muon Source * JINR * LLB * PINS * SINQ
* Historic: IPNS * HFBR
* Under construction: ESS

* v
* t
* e

Research reactors are simpler than power reactors and operate at lower temperatures. They need far less fuel, and far less fission products build up as the fuel is used. On the other hand, their fuel requires more highly enriched uranium, typically up to 20% U-235,[1] although some use 93% U-235; while 20% enrichment is not generally considered usable in nuclear weapons, 93% is commonly referred to as "weapons-grade". They also have a very high power density in the core, which requires special design features. Like power reactors, the core needs cooling, typically natural or forced convection with water, and a moderator is required to slow the neutron velocities and enhance fission. As neutron production is their main function, most research reactors benefit from reflectors to reduce neutron loss from the core.

## Conversion to low enriched uranium

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy initiated a program in 1978 to develop the means to convert research reactors from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) to the use of low enriched uranium (LEU), in support of its nonproliferation policy.[2][3] By that time, the U.S. had supplied research reactors and highly enriched uranium to 41 countries as part of its Atoms for Peace program. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Energy extended its Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance program until 2019.[4]

As of 2016, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report concluded converting all research reactors to LEU cannot be completed until 2035 at the earliest. In part this is because the development of reliable LEU fuel for high neutron flux research reactors, that does not fail through swelling, has been slower than expected.[5] As of 2020[update], 72 HEU research reactors remain.[6]

## Designers and constructors

While in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s there were a number of companies that specialized in the design and construction of research reactors, the activity of this market cooled down afterwards, and many companies withdrew.

The market has consolidated today into a few companies that concentrate the key projects on a worldwide basis.

The most recent international tender (1999) for a research reactor was that organized by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation for the design, construction and commissioning of the Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor (OPAL). Four companies were prequalified: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), INVAP, Siemens and Technicatom. The project was awarded to INVAP that built the reactor. In recent years, AECL withdrew from this market, and Siemens and Technicatom activities were merged into Areva.

The CROCUS research reactor of the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland

## Classes of research reactors

* Aqueous homogeneous reactor
* Argonaut class reactor
* DIDO class, six high-flux reactors worldwide
* TRIGA, a highly successful class with >50 installations worldwide
* SLOWPOKE reactor class, developed by AECL, Canada
* OPAL reactor class, developed by INVAP, Argentina
* Miniature neutron source reactor, based on the SLOWPOKE design, developed by AECL, currently exported by China
* Aerojet General Nucleonics, 201 Models. Developed by Aerojet General in the United States. Three current reactors in operation at Idaho State University, The University of New Mexico, and Texas A&M University.

## Research centers

Main article: Neutron facilities

A complete list can be found at the List of nuclear research reactors.

Research centers that operate a reactor:

Reactor Name  | Country  | City  | Institution  | Power Level  | Operation Date

|
|
|
|
|

BR2 Reactor  | Belgium  | Mol | Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK•CEN | 100 MW  |
Budapest Research Reactor[7] | Hungary  | Budapest | Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Energy Research  | 5 MW[7] | 1959[7]
Budapest University of Technology Training Reactor[8] | Hungary  | Budapest | Budapest University of Technology and Economics  | 100 kW  | 1969
ILL High-Flux Reactor  | France  | Grenoble  | Institut Laue-Langevin  | 63 MW[9] |
RA-6  | Argentina  | Bariloche | Balseiro Institute / Bariloche Atomic Centre | 1 MW[10] | 1982[10]
ZED-2 | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Chalk River Laboratories | 200 W[11] | 1960
McMaster Nuclear Reactor | Canada  | Hamilton, Ontario  | McMaster University  | 5 MW  | 1959
National Research Universal reactor  | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Chalk River Laboratories | 135 MW  | 1957
Petten nuclear reactors | Netherlands  | Petten  | Dutch Nuclear Research and consultancy Group,[12] EU Joint Research Centre  | 30 kW and 60MW  | 1960
ORPHEE  | France  | Saclay | Laboratoire Léon Brillouin | 14 MW  | 1980
FRM II | Germany  | Garching  | Technical University of Munich  | 20 MW  | 2004
HOR  | Netherlands  | Delft | Reactor Institute Delft, Delft University of Technology | 2 MW  |
Mainz  | Germany  | Mainz | Universität Mainz, Institut für Kernchemie | 100 kW[13] |
TRIGA Mark II[14] | Austria  | Vienna | Technical University Vienna, TU Wien, Atominstitut  | 250 kW  | 1962[14]
IRT-2000  | Bulgaria  | Sofia | Bulgarian Academy of Sciences research site  | 2 MW  |
OPAL | Australia  | Lucas Heights, New South Wales  | Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation | 20 MW  | 2006
IEA-R1  | Brazil  | São Paulo  | Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares | 3.5 MW  | 1957
IRT-2000[15] | Russia  | Moscow | Moscow Engineering Physics Institute | 2.5 MW[15] | 1967[15]
SAFARI-1 | South Africa  | Pelindaba  | South African Nuclear Energy Corporation  | 20 MW[16] | 1965[16]
PARR-l  | Pakistan  | Islamabad | Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology | 5 MW[17] | 1965[18]
PARR-ll  | Pakistan  | Islamabad | Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology | 30 KW[17] | 1989[19]
High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor | South Korea | Daejeon | Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute | 30 MW[20] | 1995[20]
LVR-15  | Czech Republic | Řež | Nuclear Research Institute  | 10 MW[21] | 1995[21]
North Carolina State University Reactor Program | United States | Raleigh, North Carolina  | North Carolina State University | 1 MW[22] | 1953[22]
High Flux Isotope Reactor | United States | Oak Ridge, Tennessee  | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |  |
Advanced Test Reactor | United States | Idaho  | Idaho National Laboratory | 250 MW[23] |
University of Missouri Research Reactor | United States | Columbia, Missouri  | University of Missouri | 10 MW  | 1966
Maryland University Training Reactor | United States | College Park, Maryland  | University of Maryland  | 250 kW[24] | 1970[24]
Washington State University Reactor | United States | Pullman, Washington  | Washington State University | 1 MW[25] |
CROCUS | Switzerland | Lausanne | École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne |  |
Maria reactor | Poland  | Świerk-Otwock | National Centre for Nuclear Research  | 30 MW  | 1974
TRIGA Mark I  | United States | Irvine, California  | University of California, Irvine |  |
ITU TRIGA Mark-II Training and Research Reactor | Turkey | Istanbul  | Istanbul Technical University  |  |
ETRR-1 | Egypt | Inshas | Nuclear Research Center  | 2 MW  | 1961
ETRR-2 | Egypt | Inshas | Nuclear Research Center  | 22 MW  | 1997
Ghana Research Reactor-1[26] | Ghana | Accra | National Nuclear Research Institute of the Ghanan Atomic Energy Commission | 30 kW  |

Decommissioned research reactors:

Reactor Name  | Country  | City  | Institution  | Power Level  | Operation Date  | Closure Date  | Decommissioned

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

ASTRA | Austria  | Seibersdorf  | Austrian Institute of Technology  | 10 MW  | 1960  | 1999  |
BER II  | Germany  | Berlin | Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin | 10 MW  | 1973  | 2019[27] |
CONSORT  | United Kingdom  | Ascot, Berkshire  | Imperial College  | 100 kW  | 1965 [28] | 2012 [29] |
JASON reactor | United Kingdom  | Greenwich  | Royal Naval College  | 10 kW  | 1962  | 1996  |
MOATA | Australia  | Lucas Heights | Australian Atomic Energy Commission | 100 kW  | 1961  | 1995  |
High Flux Australian Reactor  | Australia  | Lucas Heights | Australian Atomic Energy Commission  |  | 1958  | 2007  |
HTGR (Pin-in-Block Design)  | United Kingdom  | Winfrith, Dorset  | International Atomic Energy Agency | 20MWt  | 1964  | 1976  | July 2005[30]
DIDO | United Kingdom  | Harwell, Oxfordshire  | Atomic Energy Research Establishment |  |  | 1990  |
Nuclear Power Demonstration | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Rolphton plant  | 20 MW  | 1961  | 1987  |
NRX | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Chalk River Laboratories |  | 1952  | 1992  |
PLUTO reactor | United Kingdom  | Harwell, Oxfordshire  | Atomic Energy Research Establishment | 26 MW  | 1957  | 1990  |
Pool Test Reactor | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Chalk River Laboratories | 10 kW  | 1957  | 1990  |
WR-1 | Canada  | Pinawa, Manitoba  | AECL's Whiteshell Laboratories | 60 MW  | 1965  | 1985  |
ZEEP | Canada  | Deep River, Ontario  | AECL's Chalk River Laboratories |  | 1945  | 1973  |
More Hall Annex | United States | Seattle  | University of Washington | 100 kW  | 1961  | 1988  |
Ewa reactor | Poland  | Świerk-Otwock | POLATOM Institute of Nuclear Energy  | 10 MW  | 1958  | 1995  |
FiR 1 | Finland  | Espoo  | Helsinki University of Technology,
later VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland  | 250 kW[31] | 1962[31] | 2015[32] |
RV-1 | Venezuela  | Caracas | Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research  | 3 MW  | 1960  | 1994  |
Salaspils Research Reactor  | Latvia  | Salaspils  | Latvian Academy of Sciences | 2 kW  | 1961  | 1998  |

## References

1. ↑ Alrwashdeh, Mohammad, and Saeed A. Alameri. "Reactor Monte Carlo (RMC) model validation and verification in compare with MCNP for plate-type reactor." AIP Advances 9, no. 7 (2019): 075112. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5115807
2. ↑ "CRP on Conversion of Miniature Neutron Source Research Reactors (MNSR) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU)". International Atomic Energy Agency. 13 January 2014. https://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NEFW/Technical-Areas/RRS/mnsr.html.
3. ↑ "Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors". National Nuclear Security Administration. http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/rertr.shtml.
4. ↑ "U.S. Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance". National Nuclear Security Administration. http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/usfrrsnf.shtml.
5. ↑ Cho, Adrian (28 January 2016). "Ridding research reactors of highly enriched uranium to take decades longer than projected". https://www.science.org/content/article/ridding-research-reactors-highly-enriched-uranium-take-decades-longer-projected.
6. ↑ "IAEA highlights work to convert research reactors". World Nuclear News. 24 February 2020. https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-highlights-efforts-to-convert-research-reacto.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Budapest Research Reactor | Budapest Neutron Centre ...for research, science and innovation!" (in en). http://www.bnc.hu/?q=node/6.
8. ↑ "Institute for Nuclear Technology" (in en). http://reak.bme.hu/en/.
9. ↑ "Nuclear Reactors". http://pd.chem.ucl.ac.uk/pdnn/inst3/reactors.htm.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "RA-6 de Argentina" (in es-es). http://www.invap.com.ar/es/area-nuclear-de-invap/proyectos/reactores-ra6-de-argentina.html.
11. ↑ "Research reactors - Canadian Nuclear Association" (in en-US). Canadian Nuclear Association. https://cna.ca/technology/research-development/research-reactors/.
12. ↑ "High Flux Reactor - European Commission" (in en). 13 February 2013. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-facility/high-flux-reactor.
13. ↑ Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität. "Reactor" (in de). https://www.kernchemie.uni-mainz.de/eng/234.php.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "ATI : Reactor" (in en). https://ati.tuwien.ac.at/reactor/EN/.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "The reactor | National Research Nuclear University MEPhI" (in en). https://eng.mephi.ru/research/facilities/the-reactor.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "SAFARI-1" (in en-US). http://www.necsa.co.za/Necsa/SAFARI-1.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "PARR Research Reactor". https://www.pnra.org/r-reactors.html.
18. ↑ "Pakistan Research Reactor-1". http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/691-2.pdf.
19. ↑ Wyne, M. F.; Meghji, J. H.; Pakistan Inst. of Nuclear Science and Technology, Islamabad (Pakistan) Centre for Nuclear Studies (December 1990) (in en). ﻿PARR-2: reactor description and experiments﻿ (Report). Pakistan Inst. of Nuclear Science and Technology, Islamabad (Pakistan). Centre for Nuclear Studies. https://inis.iaea.org/records/7055j-yhm24.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) | Facilities | NTI". http://www.nti.org/learn/facilities/9/.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Research Reactor LVR-15 | Centrum výzkumu Řež" (in en-US). http://cvrez.cz/en/infrastructure/research-reactor-lvr-15/.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "History - Nuclear Reactor Program" (in en-US). Nuclear Reactor Program. https://www.ne.ncsu.edu/nrp/about/history/.
23. ↑ "ATR Factsheet". Idaho National Laboratory. http://nuclear.inl.gov/docs/factsheets/atr.pdf.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Maryland University Training Reactor (MUTR) | 250 kW TRIGA Reactor | University of Maryland Radiation Facilities". http://radiation.umd.edu/facilities/reactor.
25. ↑ "Nuclear Science Center Washington State University" (in en). https://nsc.wsu.edu.
26. ↑ "Research Reactor Database - GHARR-1". https://nucleus.iaea.org/RRDB/RR/HeaderInfo.aspx?RId=590.
27. ↑ "Ende der Neutronen-Ära" (in de). https://pro-physik.de/nachrichten/ende-der-neutronen-aera.
28. ↑ "CONSORT Reactor Decommissioning: From fission to fuel gone" (in en). https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/104458/consort-reactor-decommissioning-from-fission-to-fuel-gone/.
29. ↑ "UK research reactor fully decommissioned" (in en). 28 February 2024. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/UK-research-reactor-fully-decommissioned.
30. ↑ "Winfrith's DRAGON loses its fire". http://www.nda.gov.uk/stakeholders/newsletter/winfrith-dragon.cfm?renderforprint=1&.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Karlsen, Wade; Vilkamo, Olli (2016-12-14). "Finland's old nuclear research reactor to be decommissioned – New Centre for Nuclear Safety under construction". https://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/Finlands-old-nuclear-research-reactor-to-be-decommissioned-new-centre-for-nuclear-safety-under-construction.aspx.
32. ↑ "Research Reactor Database". International Atomic Energy Agency. https://nucleus.iaea.org/RRDB/RR/HeaderInfo.aspx?RId=122.

* WNA Information Paper # 61: Research Reactors
* Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE Needs to Take Action to Further Reduce the Use of Weapons-Usable Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors, GAO, July 2004, GAO-04-807

## External links

* IAEA searchable list of Nuclear Research Reactors in the world
* The National Organization of Test, Research, and Training Reactors, Inc.
* NMI3 - EU-FP7 Integrated Infrastructure Initiative for Neutron Scattering and Muon Spectroscopy

* v
* t
* e

United States research reactors

Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Licensed and operating
research reactors
(university-based)|

* Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute
* Cornell University
* Idaho State University
* Kansas State University
* Missouri University of Science and Technology
* Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* National Institute of Standards and Technology
* North Carolina State University
* Ohio State University
* Oregon State University
* Penn State University
* Purdue University
* Reed College
* Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
* Texas A&M University
* University of Arizona
* University of California
* University of Florida
* University of Maryland
* University of Massachusetts Lowell
* University of Michigan
* University of Missouri
* University of New Mexico
* University of Texas at Austin
* University of Utah
* University of Wisconsin-Madison
* Washington State University
* Worcester Polytechnic Institute

U.S. company-operated
research reactors|

* Aerotest Operations Inc.
* Dow Chemical Company
* General Electric Company
* Rhode Island Atomic Energy Commission
* U.S. Geological Survey
* U.S. Veterans Administration

U.S. National Labs
with nuclear research reactors|

* Argonne National Laboratory
* Brookhaven National Laboratory (All Shut down)
* Hanford Site
* Idaho National Laboratory
* Oak Ridge National Laboratory
* Savannah River Site

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research reactor. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Physics:Research_reactor&oldid=4367863"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template