TMI-2 - A Case Study for PWR Instrumentation Performance during a Severe Accident

The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor provided a unique opportunity to evaluate sensors exposed to severe accident conditions. Conditions associated with the release of coolant and the hydrogen burn that occurred during this accident exposed instrumentation to harsh conditions, including direct radiation, radioactive contamination, and high humidity with elevated temperatures and pressures. As part of a program initiated in 2012 by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), a review was completed to gain insights from prior TMI-2 sensor survivability and data qualification efforts. This new effort focussed upon a set of sensors that provided critical data to TMI-2 operators for assessing the condition of the plant and the effects of mitigating actions taken by these operators. In addition, the effort considered sensors providing data required for subsequent accident simulations. Over 100 references related to instrumentation performance and post-accident evaluations of TMI-2 sensors and measurements were reviewed. Insights gained from this review are summarized within this report. For each sensor, a description is provided with the measured data and conclusions related to the sensor’s survivability, and the basis for conclusions about its survivability. As noted within this document, several techniques were invoked in the TMI-2 post-accident evaluation program to assess sensor status, including comparisons with data from other sensors, analytical calculations, laboratory testing, and comparisons with sensors subjected to similar conditions in large-scale integral tests and with sensors that were similar in design but more easily removed from the TMI-2 plant for evaluations. Conclusions from this review provide important insights related to sensor survivability and enhancement options for improving sensor performance. In addition, this document provides recommendations related to the sensor survivability and data evaluation process that could be implemented in upcoming Fukushima Daiichi recovery efforts

Long Duration Testing of Type C Thermocouples at 1500 °C

Experience with Type C thermocouples operating for long periods in the 1400 to 1600 °C temperature range indicate that significant decalibration occurs, often leading to expensive downtime and material waste. As part of an effort to understand the mechanisms causing drift in these thermocouples, the Idaho National Laboratory conducted a long duration test at 1500 °C containing eight Type C thermocouples. As report in this document, results from this long duration test were adversely affected due to oxygen ingress. Nevertheless, results provide key insights about the impact of precipitate formation on thermoelectric response. Post-test examinations indicate that thermocouple signal was not adversely impacted by the precipitates detected after 1,000 hours of heating at 1,500 °C and suggest that the signal would not have been adversely impacted by these precipitates for longer durations (if oxygen ingress had not occurred in this test)

HIGH TEMPERATURE IRRADIATION RESISTANT THERMOCOUPLES – A LOW COST SENSOR FOR IN-PILE TESTING AT HIGH TEMPERATURES

Several options have been identified to improve recently-developed Idaho National Laboratory (INL) High Temperature Irradiation Resistant ThermoCouples (HTIR-TCs) for in-pile testing. These options have the potential to reduce fabrication costs and allow HTIR-TC use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1800 °C). The INL and the University of Idaho (UI) investigated these options with the ultimate objective of providing recommendations for alternate thermocouple designs that are optimized for various applications. This paper summarizes results from these INL/UI investigations. Specifically, results are reported about several options found to enhance HTIR-TC performance, such as improved heat treatments, alternate geometries, alternate fabrication techniques, and the use of copper/nickel alloys as soft extension cable

DEVELOPMENT OF AN IN-PILE TECHNIQUE FOR THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT

Thermophysical properties of advanced fuels and materials during irradiation must be known prior to their use in existing, advanced, or next generation reactors. Fuel thermal conductivity is one of the most important properties for predicting fuel performance and reactor safety. This paper discusses a joint Utah State University (USU)/Idaho National Laboratory (INL) project to investigate an in-pile fuel thermal conductivity measurement technique using a surrogate fuel rod. The method used a surrogate fuel rod with Joule heating to simulate volumetric heat generation as a proof-of-concept test in-pile application. Carbon structural foam, CFOAM®, a product of Touchtone Research Laboratory was chosen as the surrogate material because of the variable electrical and thermal properties upon fabrication. To stay within the surrogate fuel rod requirements, electrical and thermal properties were tailored by Touchtone Research Laboratory to match required values. This paper describes are the techniques used for quantifying thermal conductivity. A description of the test setup and preliminary results are presented. Two thermocouples are inserted into a 1-inch diameter, 6-inch long rod of CFOAM® at known locations. Knowing the applied volumetric heat to the rod by electrical resistance heating, the thermal conductivity can be calculated. Sensitivities of this measurement can also found by analysis and testing of different configurations of the sample setup. Verification of thermal conductivity is found by measuring the thermal properties of the CFOAM® using different methods. Thermal properties including thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and expansion coefficient of two types of CFOAM®, CFOAM20 and CFOAM25, were characterized using standard measurement techniques, such as laser flash, differential scanning calorimetry, and pushrod dilatometry

In-Pile Thermal Conductivity Measurement Method for Nuclear Fuels

Thermophysical properties of advanced nuclear fuels and materials during irradiation must be known prior to their use in existing, advanced, or next generation reactors. Thermal conductivity is one of the most important properties for predicting fuel and material performance. A joint Utah State University (USU) / Idaho National Laboratory (INL) project, which is being conducted with assistance from the Institute for Energy Technology at the Norway Halden Reactor Project, is investigating in-pile fuel thermal conductivity measurement methods. This paper focuses on one of these methods – a multiple thermocouple method. This two-thermocouple method uses a surrogate fuel rod with Joule heating to simulate volumetric heat generation to gain insights about in-pile detection of thermal conductivity. Preliminary results indicated that this method can measure thermal conductivity over a specific temperature range. This paper reports the thermal conductivity values obtained by this technique and compares these values with thermal property data obtained from standard thermal property measurement techniques available at INL’s High Test Temperature Laboratory. Experimental results and material properties data are also compared to finite element analysis results

INITIAL RESULTS FROM INVESTIGATIONS TO ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH TEMPERATURE IRRADIATION-RESISTANT THERMOCOUPLES

New fuel, cladding, and structural materials offer the potential for safer and more economic energy from existing reactor and advanced nuclear reactor designs. However, insufficient data are available to characterize these materials in high temperature, radiation conditions. To evaluate candidate material performance, robust instrumentation is needed that can survive these conditions. However, traditional thermocouples either drift due to degradation at high temperatures (above 1100 °C) or due to transmutation of thermocouple components. Thermocouples are needed which can withstand both high temperature and high radiation environments. To address this instrumentation need, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) recently developed the design and evaluated the performance of a high temperature radiation-resistant thermocouple that contains commercially-available alloys of molybdenum and niobium (Rempe, 2006). Candidate thermocouple component materials were first identified based on their ability to withstand high temperature and radiation. Then, components were selected based on data obtained from materials interaction tests, ductility investigations, and resolution evaluations. Results from long duration (over 4000 hours) tests at high temperatures (up to 1400 °C) and thermal cycling tests demonstrate the stability and reliability of the INL-developed design. Tests in INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) are underway to demonstrate the in-pile performance of these thermocouples. However, several options have been identified that could further enhance the lifetime and reliability of the INL-developed thermocouples, allowing their use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1700 °C). A joint University of Idaho (UI) and INL University Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (UNERI) is underway to investigate these options and ultimately, provide recommendations for an enhanced thermocouple design. This paper presents preliminary results from this UI/INL effort. Results are reported from tests completed to evaluate the ductility, resolution, transient response, and stability of thermocouples made from non-commercially available alloys of molybdenum and niobium. In addition, this paper reports preliminary insights gained by comparing the performance of thermocouples fabricated with alternate techniques and geometries

Options to Extend the Applicability of High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouples

Several options have been identified that could further enhance the reliability and increase the applicability of recently developed Idaho National Laboratory (INL) High Temperature Irradiation Resistant thermocouples (HTIR-TCs) for in-pile testing, allowing their use in higher temperature applications (up to at least 1700 °C). INL and the University of Idaho (UI) are investigating these options with the ultimate objective of providing recommendations for alternate thermocouple designs that are optimized for various applications. This paper reports the status of INL/UI investigations. Results are reported from tests completed to evaluate the ductility, resolution, transient response, and stability of thermocouples made from specially formulated alloys of molybdenum and niobium. In addition, this paper reports preliminary insights gained by comparing the performance of thermocouples fabricated with various heat treatments and alternate geometries

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival