Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2000 International RERTR Meeting

Basic Properties Of Fuel Determining Its Behavior Under Irradiation

SAFETY ANALYSIS OF AN IRRADIATION DEVICE FOR ⁹⁹Mo PRODUCTION IN RA-3 REACTOR

LERNER Ana María, MADARIAGA Marcelo, WALDMAN Ricardo

NUCLEAR REGULATORY AUTHORITY - ARGENTINA

ABSTRACT

The Argentine RA-3 research reactor (5 MW) has been converted to LEU fuel more than nine years ago. Since then, it has been operating with LEU fuel, which has been designed and fabricated at the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) is the institution in charge of the installation safety control. It is under this framework that the ARN has elaborated a neutronic calculation model for the RA-3 core, paying special attention to the device presently used for the irradiation of (HEU) ²³⁵U targets required to obtain ⁹⁹Mo as a fission product. A regulatory analysis of results is carried out in the framework of ARN standards for fixed experiments. For such purpose, calculated reactivity values associated with such device are compared with recently measured values at the installation. Finally, and according to guidelines established in the first part of this work, a calculation model for a new device proposed by CNEA for the irradiation of metallic (LEU) uranium targets and still at its design stage, is here analysed.