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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
J. E. LeSurf, G. M. Allison
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 2 | May 1976 | Pages 160-165
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31575
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experiments in reactor loops have established relationships among ammonia decomposition rate, ammonia and hydrogen concentrations, and energy deposition in boiling water. These relationships predicted an approximate ammonia decomposition rate in the 250-MW(e) CANDU-BLW, G-1 pres-sure-tube reactor of 20 g NH3/h per MW(th), 25% less than the total loss rate measured on the reactor. When the ammonia concentration in the water phase at exit from the reactor channels is kept above 7 mg/kg, the nitrate concentration in the recirculating water is ≈0.1 mg/kg and oxygen is <10 µg/kg- Experiments in the Halden Boiling Heavy Water Reactor demonstrated that the method is applicable to pres sure-vessel reactors, but larger decomposition rates of ammonia will occur. Other factors to consider are large volumes of N2 and H2 to the off-gas system, increased radiation fields around the turbine, and reduced efficiency of ion-exchange resins.