Safety Assurance for ATR Irradiations

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is the world’s premiere test reactor for performing high fluence, large volume, irradiation test programs. The ATR has many capabilities and a wide variety of tests are performed in this truly one of a kind reactor, including isotope production, simple self-contained static capsule experiments, instrumented/controlled experiments, and loop testing under pressurized water conditions. Along with the five pressurized water loops, ATR may also have gas (temperature controlled) lead experiments, fuel boosted fast flux experiments, and static sealed capsules all in the core at the same time. In addition, any or all of these tests may contain fuel or moderating materials that can affect reactivity levels in the ATR core. Therefore the safety analyses required to ensure safe operation of each experiment as well as the reactor itself are complex. Each test has to be evaluated against stringent reactor control safety criteria, as well as the effects it could have on adjacent tests and the reactor as well as the consequences of those effects. The safety analyses of each experiment are summarized in a document entitled the Experiment Safety Assurance Package (ESAP). The ESAP references and employs the results of the reactor physics, thermal, hydraulic, stress, seismic, vibration, and all other analyses necessary to ensure the experiment can be irradiated safely in the ATR. The requirements for reactivity worth, chemistry compatibilities, pressure limitations, material issues, etc. are all specified in the Technical Safety Requirements and the Upgraded Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) for the ATR. This paper discusses the ESAP process, types of analyses, types of safety requirements and the approvals necessary to ensure an experiment can be safely irradiated in the ATR