The objectives of this program are to develop and evaluate those types of engineering data which are necessary either to broaden the horizons of reactor technology or, more immediately, to provide support to reactor projects now underway or in the offing. A healthy, long-range reactor-development program demands that new ideas, materials, components, and processes be vigorously investigated; that advanced reactor designs be conceived and evaluated; that available nuclear and engineering data be analyzed. Fiscal year 1959 costs under this program are a reflection of the continued scientific and engineering effort required to further these objectives and hasten the achievement of economic nuclear power. (a) Reactor design and evaluation Fiscal year 1958.. Fiscal year 1959_ $312,000 700,000 In keeping with the aim of advanced reactor technology, this activity provides for the performance of limited theoretical and experimental work required to prove the value of new and promising reactor concepts. These concepts will be explored and problem areas isolated. A concerted development effort in the key problem areas will then be undertaken. If this development indicates that the concept is technically feasible and has potentialities for production of economic power, it may be recommended as the basis of a reactor project. Investigations are currently being performed on direct conversion of fission energy (heat) to electrical energy, on glass fiber fueled reactors, and on process heat reactors. New concepts proposed and being evaluated include gaseous fueled reactors, fast oxide breeder reactors, epithermal breeder reactors, fused sodium hydroxide coolants and moderators, and high-temperature gas-cycle reactors. Fiscal year 1958. (b) Reactor physics $3,663, 000 3, 000, 000 Studies will be continued on various possible combination of fuels, moderators, coolants, shielding materials, control methods, reflectors and other constituents which can be used in nuclear reactors. Cross section and other nuclear data will continue to be obtained through the use of exponential experiments, critical assemblies, and reactivity measuring facilities at various contractor sites. Beginning in fiscal year 1959, data will be otbained from a pulse neutron source (linear electron accellerator) at General Atomics, and beginning in fiscal year 1960 from a Commission-owned machine at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute. Data obtained from all these sources will be analyzed for their significance to reactor design. Studies will be undertaken on use of computers as aids in reactor design. Nuclear constants and other data relating to the physics of reactors will be compiled and published. Alternate methods of reactor control will be evaluated on an expanded basis in conjunction with intensified materials investigations. There will be continued study of the effects of radiation on the various constituents of nuclear reactors, including such effects as changes in physical properties, corrosion, changes in reactivity and poison content. Fiscal year 1958. (c) Reactor fuels and materials development $5,991, 000 5, 500, 000 Research and development on fuels and materials will continue at approximately the fiscal year 1958 level. Utilization of plutonium and U-233 as fuels will be investigated intensively. Fuels able to operate in reactors for long periods at high temperatures will be sought. Performance of metallic alloys, oxides, and cerment fuels will be evaluated under long irradiation periods and high flux conditions. Data will be gathered on the physical and mechanical properties of metals, alloys, and materials which may have value when used as fuel cladding or reactor components. Studies will be undertaken on little-known materials, such as rare earth metals, which posses attractive qualities for use in reactor enviornments. New alloys and materials will be developed, and studied. A comprehensive program to provide scientific information and technology on control rod materials is being initiated. This program will be undertaken by an industrial organization yet to be selected and will provide data suitable for use by reactor designers. Methods for the nondestructive testing of fuel elements and reactor components will be expaned in order to reduce fuel element cost. Fiscal year 1958.. Fiscal year 1959. (d) Reactor engineering $649, 000 400, 000 Emphasis will be given to development of instrumentation and controls required in the following applications: (1) Startup, operation, and shutdown of reactors. Work will continue and new concepts will be investigated. (2) Processing of radioactive fuel elements and residues. (3) New reactor systems involving extreme environmental conditions, such as high temperature and pressure, corrosive atmosphere, and high radiation flux. A program of basic theoretical and experimental engineering research will go forward in order to identify common problems in reactor heat transfer systems. Heat transfer systems required for new reactor concepts will be investigated. Fiscal year 1958.. (e) Advanced testing and research reactors $446, 000 400, 000 Involved here are studies of AEC needs for additional research and test facilities, conceptional design of such facilities, research and development in support of new concepts related to specific needs, and detailed design studies of such facilities. During fiscal year 1959, conceptual design will be started on a test reactor (AETR) for testing materials and fuel elements under fast flux conditions (1016 neutrons per square centimeter) and additional work will be undertaken in support of those new research and test reactor concepts which have shown the most promise. Fiscal year 1958.. Fiscal year 1959_. (f) Manuals and data books $107, 000 0 The work on manuals and data books will be completed in fiscal year 1958 since this program is now up to date. Additional manuals and data books may be required in the future based on anticipated advances in reactor technology. 3. Applied fuel cycle development, $13,000,000 The fuel cycle development program will be initiated in fiscal year 1959 and has as its basic objectives the reduction of nuclear power costs through an aggressive development program. This program will extend from materials and process development through the actual testing of multiton batches of developmental fuel elements in full-scale power reactors. To accomplish this, the Commission's fuel cycle development program will be expanded and specific attention will be directed toward the development, fabrication, and testing of large numbers of fuel element types suitable for test operation in the various power reactors scheduled to be in operation after fiscal year 1960. The fuel cycle development program will be carried out through_arrangements with a number of industrial concerns and at AEC laboratories. In the past years some work similar in nature has been carried on in conjunction with the reactor development work. Development of fuel materials will be directed primarily toward materials of special significance to classes of reactors which have developed into firm projects, with the objective of accelerating the development of materials and techniques which will lead to higher performance and/or lower cost fuel elements for these reactors. The proposed projects would supplement present efforts with particular attention to oxides and other cermet materials containing uranium, thorium, and plutonium in forms suitable for use in these firm projects. Effort will be aimed at the development of new fuel element designs which would result in improved performance when used in those full-scale reactors now under construction or firmly planned. The initial work will result in the development of prototype fuel elements which could subsequently be produced in large numbers for test in full-scale power reactors. It is planned to enter into contracts with power reactor operators to test these elements. Funds for these contracts are included in the unapplied resources portion of the AEC budget. Consideration will be given to improved manufacturing techniques and to inspection and testing procedures which can result in lower costs in the subsequent production of fuel elements of the type being developed. It is planned to enter into contracts with commercial organizations which have competence and facilities in the fuel element field and at the same time increase effort at existing AEC installations. The reactor safety program is aimed at developing information pertinent to achieving in reactors, maximum safety at minimum cost. The testing of different design reactor systems is required to generate information needed to insure stability of reactor operation and to determine more fully the dynamic behavior of reactors when subjected to both sudden and slow changes in reactivity. Work in this program must proceed at a high level of effort during fiscal year 1959 in order to meet the demands of an expanding reactor industry. Fiscal year 1958. (a) In-pile systems development $5, 130, 000 2, 800, 000 This activity will include destructive tests by in-pile meltdown of a fuel element subassembly in order to provide needed data on chemical energy releases under exclusion or loss of coolant conditions. This information is required for safe fuel element design and in order to achieve a proper balance between safe and economical reactor containment. The transient reactor test program to include reactor types not covered under the existing transient test series will be required. Present facilities at SPERT I, II, and III and KEWB permit tests of pressurized and unpressurized water cooled and moderated reactors and aqueous homogeneous water boilers. Operation of SPERT I and KEWB facilities will continue in fiscal year 1959. In fiscal year 1958 SPERT III was essentially completed and SPERT II will be completed early in fiscal year 1959. Studies will indicate whether or not certain of the existing facilities can be used for tests on boiling water reactors and organic moderated reactors. A study is also underway to determine the transient testing needs for sodium-cooled, liquidmetal fueled, and gas-cooled reactors. Fiscal year 1958. Fiscal year 1959.. (b) Out-of-pile development $1,738, 000 3, 800, 000 Major emphasis in this part of the reactor safety program will be placed upon reactor containment and chemical reaction studies, and upon a theoretical analysis and understanding of observed phenomena in transient and other reactor safety programs. These activities should be vigorously pursued not only to determine safe design criteria but also to provide data which will allow for more economical containment. This effort includes work on reactor core vessels, outer containment, blast shields, blast effects as related to time histories of energy releases, underground construction, and natural hazards such as earthquake damage. Effort will be expended on chemical reactions work, metal-water reactions, metalignition studies, and experiments on fission products that would be released from melting or burning of fuel elements. The out-of-pile program will also include work on reactor fuses, theoretical reactor kinetics, and the safety aspects of control systems. Fiscal year 1958.. (c) Fast reactor safety program $1, 681, 000 1, 000, 000 The fast reactor safety program concentrates on the two central problems in fast reactor safety, namely, reactor stability and estimation of the maximum possible nuclear accident. The major part of this work is being done by the Argonne National Laboratory in close cooperation with the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. A major emphasis has been on the design, development, and fabrication of the transient reactor test reactor (TREAT) which is required to test fuel elements and subassemblies. This experimental reactor was designed to provide a power excursion which will melt the test elements, thus providing data for the analysis of meltdown problems. Fabrication is to be essentially completed in fiscal year 1958 and the experimental meltdown tests will begin in fiscal year 1959. Detailed studies will continue on the effects which core meltdowns may have on the yield of a nuclear incident, on the kinetics of ignition or reactor metals, and on reactor containment studies. Separations systems development programs are directed toward obtaining design criteria on chemical systems for the reprocessing of irradiated reactor fuels. Current estimates indicate that a significant portion of nuclear power costs will be incurred for this function. At present, no proven technology exists which promises greater economies and which can be applied to the heavy volume of spent fuel loads forecast for civilian power and military reactors. During fiscal year 1959, development efforts will be pointed toward pilot plant proof of promising chemical systems. Fiscal year 1958. (a) Aqueous chemical processing development $2, 504, 000 2, 800, 000 Major goals are to develop and prove the mechanism for fuel dissolution, to develop improved extraction process methods and data, and to continue development of reprocessing chemistry applicable to multicomponent fuel compositions. Developments of the Zircex and Darex processes for treating zirconium and stainless steel fuels will be continued on both laboratory and engineering scales to determine reaction rates, product losses, heat dissipation, behavior of fission products and plutonium, and to find optimum materials of construction. General laboratory studies will be continued on alternate aqueous processes. Work on fuel handling and mechanical processing systems will be continued. Data will be obtained on dissolution rates of various fuels in sulfuric-nitric acid systems. Corrosion behavior of such systems built of several materials on construction is to be evaluated. Studies in the application of ultrasonic techniques to aqueous reprocessing operations will be continued. Application of ultrasonics in nonaqueous chemical reprocessing will also be considered. |