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Learn about the history and technical data of the TRIGA Mark II Reactor in Vienna, its fuel elements, operation modes, ongoing activities, and operational performance.
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RROG 26TH ANNUAL MEETING 14th to 17th May 2014 Atominstitut, Vienna, Austria
History of the TRIGA Mark II Reactor Vienna • 250 kW TRIGA Mark II reactor at the Atominstitut in Vienna critical since March 7th 1962 • Initially started up with 66 TRIGA fuel elements type 102 (Al-cladding, LEU) • Following years elements of the type 104 (SST-cladding, LEU) were purchased • In 1972 fuel elements of the type 110 (SST-cladding, 70% enriched) where acquired and placed in the core • The last 8 fresh fuel elements were acquired from the Triga reactor in Heidelberg • Core conversion in November 2012
Main technical Data of the TRIGA Mark-II Reactor Vienna (1) 1. Reactor Fuel-Moderator Material 8.5 wt% uranium 89.9 wt% zirconium 1.6 wt% hydrogen Uranium enrichment 19.8 % and 70% uranium-235 Active core volume 49.5 cm diameter 38.1 cm high Core loading 76 fuel elements, Amount of U-235 per fuel element approx. 38 grams Reflector graphite Reactor control 2 motordriven control rods 1 pneumatic control rod material prompt negative temperature coefficient of the fuel
Main technical Data of the TRIGA Mark-II Reactor Vienna (2) 2. Steady state reactor operation mode Maximum thermal power 250 kW Maximum thermal neutron flux density 1x1013cm-2s-1 Maximum fuel temperature 220°C Maximum primary water temperature 35°C 3. Transient reactor operation mode peak, power thermal 250 MW Integrated energy production 12 MWs total duration of power pulse 40 ms minimum reactor period 10 ms maximum fuel temperature 360°C
Fuel Element Situation as per 01.01.2014 Total uranium weight: 17 287.19 g U-235 weight: 3 436.33 g
OngoingActivities (1) • Reactor was in 2013 for more than 200 days in operation • 6 weeks practical courses for the Vienna University of Technology, 2 weeks for the University of Manchester and 3 weeks for the IAEA • Replacement of the old I&C system is financed by the Vienna University of Technology • From 3 different vendors; Skoda, Invap and GA, the Skoda company located in Pilsen was chosen as they offered the cheapest price fulfilling all the specifications mentioned in the call for tender. • The 1st coordination meeting took place on the 21. February 2014. The replacement of the old I&C system and the installation of the new one is scheduled for the summer 2015.
OngoingActivities (2) • One new deputy reactor manager and one new nuclear security officer was put in place in 2013 • Due to the European law a periodic safety review of the installation has to be performed till the end of 2014 • A detailed inspection of the facility together with the governmental expert Dr. Gabriele Hampel took place, as an outcome of this inspection the main nuclear parts have to be replaced by new components • New primary circuit (pumps, pipes and heat exchanger) • New secondary circuit (pumps and pipes) • New purification pump • New ventilation system of the reactor hall (motors and fittings) • Several new auxiliary systems (electrical installation, lamps, etc..)
Performance Indicators for 2013 (1) B1: Number of unplanned reactor shutdowns initiated by reactor protection system or manual intervention B2: Number of unplanned reactor shutdowns initiated by experiments under irradiation
Performance Indicators for 2013 (2) D1a: Collective radiation dose to reactor operations staff D1b: Number of reactor operations staff D1c: D1a / D1b D2a: Collective radiation dose to all staff from reactor related work D2b: Total number of staff involved D2c: D2a / D2b
Performance Indicators for 2013 (3) * below the limit of detection E1: Rare gas released to atmosphere (Ar-41) E2: Tritium released to atmosphere E3: Tritiated water discharged E4: Iodine released to atmosphere
Staff • Central facility “Reactor” • 1 reactor manager • 1 deputy reactor manager • 2 reactor operators • Central facility “Nuclear Safety” • 1 nuclear security officer • 1 deputy security officer • Central facility “Radiation Protection” • 1 radiation protection officer • 1 deputy radiation protection officer • 1 technician
Training programme for personnel • Reactor manager • Deputy reactor manager • Nuclear security officer • Radiation protection officer • Every 5 years minimum • Minimum 40 hours • Conferences • Reactor operators • Radiation protection technicians - Every 5 years minimum • Minimum 8 hours • Conferences
Qualificationoftheoperators • Since 1962 the Atominstitut operates the TRIGA Mark II reactor with two operators. The last two came in the year 1975 and 1978. • One operator was trained in a special course at a technical High School for nuclear engineering dedicated for future operators for the Austrian NPP Zwentendorf. • As most of the lectures at that time were held at the Atominstitut he moved to our facility as a new operator was needed due to retirement. • The second operator was trained directly in our facility as the as the NPP was not put into operation and the High school was already closed.
Retrainingoftheoperators (1) • The retraining of the operators is split into two parts. • One part is the participation in the different practical courses carried out at the Atominstitut. In all this courses the operators work closely together either with operators of other nuclear facilities or students from different universities. During this courses practical skills are trained again and different questions concerning reactor related themes are discussed. Safety issues of different nuclear facilities are discussed and the different practices are compared. As we are a small group every interesting topic is discussed together with the operators.
Retrainingoftheoperators (2) • In addition to this courses excursions to other nuclear facilities are organized like: • TRIGA Munich • RR Seibersdorf • NPP Bohunice • NPP Temelin • NPP Dukovany • NPP Mochovce • NPP Zwentendorf • TU Bratislava • TRIGA Lubjana • TRIGA Rom • TRIGA Pavia
Radiation Protection Staff • 3 Persons in theradiationprotectiondepartement • Head ofdepartmentand 2 radiationphysicists • Deputies in eachresearcharea • Advanced training for the radiation protection staff • - Every 5 years minimum • Minimum 8 hours • Conferences
Radiation Protection Courses • Individual coursesareplanedandheldbytheradiation protectionstaff • Handling sealedsources • Handling unsealedradiactive material • Contamination – decontamination • Dose andactivitycalculations • Internal courses • Coursesforstaffoftheinstitute • Once a year • Theoreticalandpracticaltopics • Externalcourses • In cooperationwithcompaniesandauthorities • Forbeginnersandexperts in radiationprotection • Also theoreticalandpracticaltopics
Safety Evaluation • Document: Safety Analysis – analysing risks
Emergency Plans Alarm at thesecurityoffice • Internal alarms: • Responsibility: • Reactor Manager • Radiation Protection Officer • Nuclear Safety Officer • External alarms: • Responsibility: • National Authorities Internal alarm Externalalarm Handling theevent Documentationandaccidentreview
Present Situation in Vienna • Replacement of the old I&C system is in progress • Replacement of primary circuit, secondary circuit, purification circuit and the reactor ventilation is in progress • Estimation of the decommission costs together with Austrian research center in Seibersdorf • Increasing demand on practical courses