Proposed fuel pin irradiation facilities for the high flux isotope reactor

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) is proposing to develop a sodium-cooled fast-spectrum reactor (SFR) to transmute and consume actinides from spent nuclear fuel. The proposed fuels include metal and oxide forms mixed actinides (U-Np-Pu-Am-Cm) as well as target concepts with perhaps both Am-Cm. The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) was built for the purpose of transmuting plutonium to various higher actinides including Am, Cm, and Cf Since a fast-spectrum irradiation facility does not exist in the United States, HFIR can fulfill a first step in the GNEP- mission that being to establish a near-term domestic capability to irradiate materials in a fast neutron spectrum. Modifications to the HFIR central target region to accomplish this goal are described. A second ongoing project for HFIR is to design capsules and installation tools and procedures to irradiate short rods of innovative nuclear fuel types and cladding materials under prototypic light water reactor (LWR) operating conditions at an accelerated rate relative to expected reactor performance. This second proposal would be for a facility representative of thermal reactor conditions rather than the GNEP concept. In order to maintain power densities within the fuel at levels normally seen by LWR reactors, an entirely new experiment and test capsule design will be needed.