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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
John T. Holmes, Grant O. Haroldsen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 21 | Number 3 | March 1974 | Pages 228-234
Technical Paper | Instrument | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A31393
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) primary sodium system is equipped with continuous monitors for oxygen and hydrogen impurities in the sodium. The sensors of these monitors have been incorporated into a modularized system that was developed for nuclear reactor applications for sodium temperature and sodium flow-rate conditioning. The oxygen meter calibration is provided by periodic analysis of the oxygen in sodium by the vanadium-equilibration method. The hydrogen meter is a direct reading device and does not require on-line calibration. Typically, the impurity content of the sodium has been shown to be quite stable at 0.6- to 1.0-ppm oxygen and 0.06- to 0.08-ppm hydrogen. On-line carbon monitors are not presently in use at EBR-II. A single determination of the chemical activity carbon in sodium gave a result of 0.002 relative to graphite and is about the same value as measured in other “clean” stainless steel-sodium systems. Plans are being made to equip the EBR-II secondary system with ten hydrogen meters that will be used for detecting the onset of steam-to-sodium leaks such that corrective action can be taken before the leak enlarges and propagates to adjacent tubes.