Estimation of the Thermal Power of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 Low Enriched Uranium Core at Half Power using the Heat Balance Approach

Authors

Keywords:

Miniature Neutron Source Reactors, Low enriched uranium core, Temperature measurement, Reactor power estimation

Abstract

Reactor power estimation is crucial for the safe monitoring and evaluation of reactor operation, as the reactor power signal is normally used in the reactor automatic control system, evaluation of reactor experiments, accurate determination and calculation of fuel element burn-up as well as isotopic composition of burned fuel, normalization of calculated neutron fluxes and specifically dose rates. In this present study, the heat balance method has been applied in the estimation of the thermal power of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) specifically at the at half power. The inlet temperature, outlet temperature and temperature difference measured were of average values of 32.43 ± 1.54 oC, 43.49 ± 2.07 oC and 11.06 ± 0.53 oC, respectively. On the average, the coolant flow rate through the core was 0.3966 ± 0.0188 kg/s. The power dissipated was found to be 14.97 kW, while the total heat loss was 0.23 kW. The results obtained in this current study is consistent with that of other low enriched uranium core at half power. These results have again supported the accuracy of the heat balance method; hence, it is the method is recommended for routine estimation of Miniature Neutron Source Reactors.

Dimensions

Agbo, S.A., Ahmed, Y.A., Ewa, I.O.B., Jibrin, Y. (2016). Analysis of Nigeria research reactor-1 thermal power calibration methods. Nucl. Eng. Technol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2016.01.014.

Agbo, S.A., Ahmed, Y.A., Yayaha, B. and Iliyasu, U. (2015) ‘The use of heat balance method in the thermal power calibration of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIIR-1)’, Progress in Nuclear Energy, Vol. 85, pp.344–351.

Ahmed, Y. A., Mansir, I. B., Yusuf, I., Balogun, G. I. and Jonah, S. A. (2011). Effects of core excess reactivity and coolant average temperature on maximum operable time of NIRR-1 miniature neutron source reactor, Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 241, pp.1559–1564.

Ahmed, Y.A., Balogun, G.I., Jonah, S.A. and Funtua, I.I. (2008). The behavior of reactor power and flux resulting from changes in core-coolant temperature for a miniature neutron source reactor, Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 35, pp.2417–2419.

Alrwashdeh, M. and Saeed A. A. (2019). "Reactor Monte Carlo (RMC) model validation and verification in compare with MCNP for plate-type reactor." AIP Advances 9, no. 7. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5115807

Asuku A., Ahmed Y. A., Ahmed Umar, Umar S., Abdulmalik N. F., Abubakar A. R., Yunusa M. H. and Dalhat S. Impact of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 Conversion on Its Thermal Power Calibration (2020). FUW Trends in Science & Technology Journal. Vol. 5 No. 2 pp. 566 – 571

Centre for Energy Research and Training, CERT (2019). Final Safety Analysis Report of Nigeria Research Reactor-1. CERT Technical Report- CERT/NIRR-1/FSAR-04.

Jibrin, Y., Ibrahim, Y. V., Sadiq, Agbo, S.A., Iliyasu, U. (2016). Core power prediction for Nigeria research reactor-1 (NIRR-1) using measurements of dose-rate and temperature. Progress in Nuclear Energy 91:256-264. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2016.05.004

Jonah, S.A., Balogun, G.I., Umar, I.M., Mayaki, M.C. (2005). Neutron spectrum parameters in irradiation channels of the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) for the k0-NAA standardization. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 266, 83-88.

Jonah, S.A., Ibrahim, Y.V., Kalimulla, M., Matos, J.E. (2012). Steady state Thermal hydraulic operational parameters and safety margins of NIRR-1 with LEU fuel using PLTEMP-ANL CODE. In: European Nuclear Conference (ENC), Manchester, United Kingdom 9-12

Jonah, S.A., Umar, I.M., Oladipo, M.O.A., Balogun, G.I., Adeyemo, D.J., 2006. Standardization of NIRR-1 irradiation and counting facilities for instrumental neutron activation analysis. Appl. Rad. Isot. 64, 818-822.

Mesquita, A.Z., Rezende, H.C., Souza, R.M.G.P. (2011). Thermal power calibrations of the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor by the calorimetric and the heat balance methods. Prog. Nucl. Energy 53, 1197-1203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2011.08.003.

Mesquita, A.Z., Rezende, H.C., Tambourgi, E.B. (2007). Power calibration of the TRIGA mark I nuclear research reactor. J. Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. XXIX (No. 3), 240-245.

Miller, R. W. (1989). “Flow Measurement Engineering Handbook”, Second Edition. New York, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, p. E19-E21.

Musa, Y., Ahmed, Y.A., Yamusa, Y.A. and Ewa, I.O.B. (2012). Determination of radial and axial neutron flux distribution in irradiation channel of NIRR-1 using foil activation technique, Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 50, pp.50–55.

Sunday A. Jonah (2018). Safety Assessment Of NIRR-1 after Conversion From HEU to LEU Centre For Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, P.M.B. 1014 Zaria, Nigeria.

Yongmao, Z. (1985) Technology and Use of Low Power Research Reactors, IAEA-TECDOC-384, Report of IAEA Consultants Meeting, 30 April – 3 May, Beijing, China.

Published

2024-03-31

How to Cite

Estimation of the Thermal Power of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 Low Enriched Uranium Core at Half Power using the Heat Balance Approach. (2024). Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics, 2(1), 78-85. https://doi.org/10.62292/njptep.v2i1.2024.33

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2024): Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics - Vol. 2 No. 1

Section

Articles
Copyright & Licensing

How to Cite

Estimation of the Thermal Power of Nigeria Research Reactor-1 Low Enriched Uranium Core at Half Power using the Heat Balance Approach. (2024). Nigerian Journal of Theoretical and Environmental Physics, 2(1), 78-85. https://doi.org/10.62292/njptep.v2i1.2024.33

Most read articles by the same author(s)