Staff roster for 1979-Energy Sciences programs

This publication lists the education, research interests, professional affiliations, committee memberships, research experience, and selected publications of BNL staff members in energy sciences programs. (RWR

A safety assessment of the use of graphite in nuclear reactors licensed by the US NRC

This report reviews existing literature and knowledge on graphite burning and on stored energy accumulation and releases in order to assess what role, if any, a stored energy release can have in initiating or contributing to hypothetical graphite burning scenarios in research reactors. It also addresses the question of graphite ignition and self-sustained combustion in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). The conditions necessary to initiate and maintain graphite burning are summarized and discussed. From analyses of existing information it is concluded that only stored energy accumulations and releases below the burning temperature (650/sup 0/C) are pertinent. After reviewing the existing knowledge on stored energy it is possible to show that stored energy releases do not occur spontaneously, and that the maximum stored energy that can be released from any reactor containing graphite is a very small fraction of the energy produced during the first few minutes of a burning incident. The conclusions from these analyses are that the potential to initiate or maintain a graphite burning incident is essentially independent of the stored energy in the graphite, and depends on other factors that are unique for these reactors, research reactors, and for Fort St. Vrain. In order to have self-sustained rapid graphite oxidation in any of these reactors, certain necessary conditions of geometry, temperature, oxygen supply, reaction product removal, and a favorable heat balance must be maintained. There is no new evidence associated with either the Windscale Accident or the Chernobyl Accident that indicates a credible potential for a graphite burning accident in any of the reactors considered in this review

URANIUM-BISMUTH IN-PILE CORROSION TEST LOOP. RADIATION LOOP NO. 1

A loop was operated in the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor to determine the effect of in-pile irradiation on the corrosion of various materials by a U-- Bi solution. The loop wws fabricated of 21/4% chrome-1% Mo steel and contained, in the in-pile section, specimens of low-chrome steels, C steel, Mo, Be, Ta, and graphite. The U--Bi solution containing 869 ppm U/sup 235/ 98 ppm U/ sup 238/, 236 ppm Zr, and 346 ppm Mg was circulated at 51/4 gpm. A temperature difference of 75 deg C was maintained on the loop. The in-pile test section ran at 500 deg C and the finned cooler section at 425 deg C. The in-pile test section was exposed to a neutron flux of 4.4 x 10/sup 12/ neutrons/cm/sup 2/-sec which provided a fission density of 5.5 x 10/sup 10/ fissions/cm/sup 3/-sec. Metallographic examination indicated that the corrosion and/or erosion of the steel and graphite specimens was nil. Wetting of the specimens by the U-Bi solution was limited. Results indicate that in-pile and out-of-pile experimental results are similar and that fission fragment recoils did not contribute materially to either wetting or corrosion under the conditions imposed in this test. (auth