Prospects for Conversion of HEU-Fueled Research Reactors in Russia

Reducing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium in Civilian Research Reactors

“…5 In the 1980s, the Soviet Union began a two-stage program to reduce fuel enrichment in Russian-designed research reactors outside its borders, first to 36 percent and then to less than 20 percent (Arkhangelsky, 2011). In the 1990s, Russia and the United States, in the context of the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) Program (Diakov, 2014), collaborated on the development of LEU fuel for Russiansupplied research reactors abroad. In 1994, Russia initiated the program "Creation of fuel rods and fuel assemblies with 20 percent uranium-235 ( 235 U) enrichment fuel for the cores of research reactors" (Aden et al, 2006).…”

“…6 Under this program, all Soviet-supplied reactors outside the borders of the Soviet Union were converted, and nearly all fresh and spent HEU fuel has been returned to the Russian Federation. There has also been continuing progress in the conversion of research reactors in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union, with research reactors in only Belarus and Kazakhstan awaiting conversion (see Table 2.2 and Appendix E; Diakov, 2014).…”

Needs and Requirements for Future Research Reactors (ORNL Perspectives)

“…The PIK uses HEU (90wt% 235 U/U) fuel that consists of enriched UO 2 dispersed in a Cu-Be matrix. It is unlikely that this reactor will ever be converted to LEU; scoping studies indicate that reactor performance will not be maintained if converted using existing LEU fuel [11].…”

Monte Carlo simulations of periodic pulsed reactor with moving geometry parts

“…The reactor is modulated externally and its state varies from subcritical to prompt supercritical to produce a power pulse then back to subcritical for removing the excess reactivity. The Russian IBR-2 reactor (Diakov, 2013) is an example of a periodic pulsed reactor for producing multiple power pulses. It has been successfully operated for many decades.…”