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MARVEL team shares lessons learned through microreactor development
On June 1 at the American Nuclear Society’s Annual Conference in Denver, Colo., a team from Idaho National Laboratory presented a session titled “Lessons Learned from MARVEL Reactor Fabrication.” The presentation highlighted challenges that arose as they moved from design to manufacturing and assembly, with a focus on reactor part fabrication, Stirling engine implementation, and reactivity control system development.
Howard A. Larson, William F. Booty, Donald R. Chick, Lynn J. Christensen, Robert J. Forrester, J. W. Sielinsky
Nuclear Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August 1985 | Pages 167-179
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33641
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) has been modified to permit automatic control capability. Necessary mechanical and electrical changes were made on a regular control rod position; motor, gears, and controller were replaced. A digital computer system was installed that has the programming capability for varied power profiles. The modifications permit transient testing at EBR-II. Experiments were run that increased power linearly as much as 4 MW/s [16% of initial power of 25 MW (thermal)/s], held power constant, and decreased power at a rate no slower than the increase rate. Thus the performance of the automatic control algorithm, the mechanical and electrical control equipment, and the qualifications of the driver fuel for future power change experiments were all demonstrated.