Overview of the NCSU

Nuclear Reactor Program

Ayman I. Hawari

Professor & Director

Nuclear Reactor Program

Department of Nuclear Engineering

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

NSUF Partner Facilities Working Group (PFWG) MeetingMay 24-25, 2017 • Idaho Falls, ID, USA

Nuclear Reactor Program PULSTAR reactor Operations and Performance

PULSTAR Capabilities Irradiation testing and NAA Beam facilities

Neutron imaging Neutron powder diffraction Positron annihilation spectrometry

Developments Nuclear Fuel fission gas release loop

Utilization

Outline

Acknowledgement

The Nuclear Reactor Program team

Supported by (2002 – present) US DOE office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

US Nuclear Criticality Safety program

US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program

US National Science Foundation

US Department of State

International Atomic Energy Agency

The first open access nuclear reactor in the world (envisioned 1949, operated 1953) was the R-1 reactor at NC State University

Nuclear Reactor ProgramBoard of Governors Center

PULSTAR

Reactor

1972

1-MW

Vision

Establish the Nuclear Reactor Program (NRP) as a premier national and international resource in Nuclear Engineering education, research, and extension/service.

Education / Training Provide a hands-on understanding of the physics and

operations of nuclear reactors to the next generation of nuclear engineers

Serve as a multi-disciplinary education center in the area of radiation physics applications

Provide training in support of nuclear power development

Scientific applications and research Develop state-of-the-art facilities for understanding and

applying the principles of radiation interaction with matterIncludes in-pool and ex-pool studies

Outreach, extension and service Support the national infrastructure through the use of

nuclear methods in various aspects including medical and industrial

Mission

1) Maintain the position of the NRP as an international education and training center

2) Maintain the NRP as a recognized center for the development of methods and instrumentation in nondestructive examination of materials

3) Continue the NRP leadership in national and international technical events

4) Continue to seek funding from all available sources (DOE, NSF, etc.)

5) Promote utilization and partnerships on the local, national and international levels

6) Continue to engage the PULSTAR in the NE curriculum through existing and new classes

7) Maintain a strong service operation and seek increased revenues.8) Pursue acquiring new fuel for the PULSTAR reactor9) Complete the PULSTAR license extension and operation at 2-

MWth10) Design and establish the next generation of PULSTAR beamport

instruments and NRP facilities

Mission Objectives (2016 – 2020)

National and International partnerships

Partner in the DOE NSUF

Experiments conducted at PULSTAR

Partner with DOE/INL and DOS/Sandia to develop international

educational programs

New international internet reactor lab offering

Partner in NSF’s RTNN (Research Triangle Nanotechnology

Network)

Lead of OECD/NEA WPEC SG42 TSL data group

Partner with IAEA in various activities

All the above resulted in increasing utilization

Partnerships

PULSTAR Reactor

1-MW power

Open pool/tank

Light water moderated and cooled

5 x 5 array of fuel assemblies

5 x 5 array of pins

Sintered UO2 pellets

4% and 6% enriched

Critical 1972

Irradiation Locations

Major Capabilities

Neutron powder diffractometer

Neutron imaging

Intense positron beam

Ultracold neutron source (under testing)

Fission gas release loop (design & construction)

Neutron activation analysis

In-pool irradiation testing facilities

PULSTAR reactor bay

Intense Positron Beam Facility

The Spectrometers

Bulk Positron System

Two Hamamatsu H3378-

50 PMTs

LeCroy 760Zi-A digital

oscilloscope to digitize

the raw PMT pulses and

acquire PALS spectrum

Time resolution ~200 ps

Analog system operating

in parallel, and is used

for high count rate and

calibration

HPGe detector for DBS

Linkam pressure

chamber with

temperature control from

77K to 673K

Beam Shutter

Camera box

Scintillator

Positioning system

Rotation stage

Beam Indicator

Light

Entrance Door

Dose Monitors

CCTV

Beam Control

Computer

Tomography

controller equipment

Heavy Concrete

Shielding

CCD Camera and Tomography

Controller LabView Interface

Thermal Neutron Imaging

Neutron Flux 7x106 to 1.8x106 𝑛/𝑐𝑚2/𝑠𝑒𝑐 L/D 75 to 150 Neutron Radiography System

Andor CCD camera 13.5 µm pixel size 27 mm x 27 mm field of view at 1:1 magnification

Dynamic Radiography System Andor EMCCD camera 13 µm pixel size 13 mm x 13 mm field of view at 1:1 magnification Internal gain 300 26 frames per second

50 µm and 250 µm LiF:ZnS(Ag) scintillator Spatial resolution 50-100 µm Tomography system

High precision XYZ positioning table and rotary stage controlled by stepper motor and servo feedback system

Automated data acquisition system Reconstruction software Octopus

Capabilities and Characteristics

PULSTAR Powder Diffractometer

Beam Tube 4 – two 3”

sapphire fast neutron filters.

Si bent perfect crystal focusing monochromator – 1.479 Å beam at

sample position.

Large area position sensitive neutron detector array 15” by 24”

spanning 20o for high resolution.

Detector rotates on air pad supports.

Performance of the PNPD

Main beam spectrum Thermal

Monochromator Bent silicon single crystal

monochromator

Take off angle 90°

Wavelength 1.479 Å (0.037 eV)

Scattering angles 5°≤ 2Ө ≤ 125°

Detector bank 15 3He detectors

Beam size at sample position 7cm x 1cm

Minimum resolution (d/d) 0.003

Flux at sample 0.5 x 105 n/cm2·s

Total Cross Section Measurements

PULSTAR Reactor

Computational Capabilities Hybrid mini cluster - 12 nodes

264 CPU cores 11 computational GPU Expanding…..

Implementation System design

Neutronic simulations Atomistic simulations

Data interpretation

MCNP, Serpent, Geant4, McStas, NJOY, PARET, RELAP, VASP, PHONON, LAMMPS, COMSOL, FLASSH

COMSOL & MCNP Simulation

FGR Measurement Facility

Furnace Beam Head

Supporting structure and

water, gas, electric lines

Service ports and

pumping chamber

Long throw manipulator

For linear beam head motion

Biological shield

Heat exchanger

Heat insulation

Thermal Block

Sample Holder

Water cooled chamber

Irradiation Experiments

Examples of irradiation experiments performed utilizing the PULSTAR Reactor:

Fast neutron irradiation of materials (e.g. polyimide wafers, polymer derived ceramics, synthetic carbon based sensors, plastic scintillator materials, low carbon steel).

Production of radio-isotopes (e.g. Ho-166, Re-186/188) for medical cancer research.

Thermal neutron irradiation of human cell lines for medical capture therapy research.

Isotope production in support of the radio-pharmaceutical industry.

Radiation hardness testing of underwater cameras.

Irradiation of materials in high temperature environments.

Radiation hardness testing of underwater cameras

Polyimide wafer with test leads

Irradiation Testing Nuclear Instrumentation Testing:

Accelerated Lifetime Testing (3500 MW-hr)

Activation Testing

Linearity Testing

Sensitivity Evaluation

Detector Types:

Ex-core neutron detectors including compensated ion chambers, fission chambers & BF3 detectors.

In-core neutron fission chamber detectors.

Fission Chamber Channel Electronics

3500 MWhr CIC Test in 3.5” Standpipe

Pulse Counting Channel Test Bench

BF3 and Fission Chamber Characterization in 7.5” Standpipe

Neutron Activation Analysis

Recent applications of NAA at NC State:

Trace metals in laboratory animal samples for EPA Superfund Site characterization.

Ultra-trace Uranium and Thorium in high purity detector scintillator materials for ‘DarkSide-50’ Dark Matter Experiment.

Heavy metals in environmental samples from coal fired power plants.

Rhenium content in radiotherapy micro needles for medical cancer research.

Trace contaminants in high purity carbon based nano-sensors.

Heavy metal uptake in agricultural samples for environmental remediation research.

Trace metals in lab animal organs and tumors for toxicology and cancer research.

Rhenium Coated Radio-Therapy ‘Micro’ Needle

Internet Reactor Laboratory

IAEA’s Internet Reactor Laboratory expands access to training Posted on January 9, 2017 by ansnuclearcafe — 1 Comment ↓

The Internet-based remote learning tool is being used to train nuclear engineering students.

By Dick Kovan

The International Atomic Energy Agency established its Internet Reactor Laboratory (IRL) program as one solution for a country that has a research reactor to provide practical reactor operating experience to nuclear engineering students, usually—but not always—in IAEA member states that do not have a research reactor.

The IRL concept was originally developed by a U.S. Department of Energy–funded research reactor consortium in which North Carolina State University (NCSU) successfully demonstrated that an Internet computer link could deliver practical experiments from its PULSTAR reactor to students at other universities in the United States. The next step—to develop the concept internationally—grew from an existing relationship between NCSU and the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), which had set up the country’s first nuclear engineering program in 2007 to supply Jordan’s nuclear energy program with fully qualified nuclear engineers. The IRL project was inaugurated at JUST’s Department of Nuclear Engineering in November 2010.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

May 24, 2016

FACT SHEET: Enhancing U.S.-Vietnam Civil Nuclear Clean Energy Cooperation

Complement Vietnamese university nuclear curriculum programs with the Department of Energy supported remote reactor training from North Carolina State University.

Internet Reactor Laboratory

Infrastructure Upgrade

LabView System: Provides 113 data inputs:

78 Digital inputs for status indications (e.g. pump or alarm on/off)

25 Analog inputs for level indications (e.g. power, flow, temperatures)

10 Thermocouple inputs for in-core thermocouple measurements (e.g. for natural circulation/flow reversal labs )

LabView engineering data inputs for PULSTAR systems interface

National Instruments cDAQ 9188 Chassis with I/O modules

Internet Reactor Laboratory

Infrastructure Upgrade

Precision 60 Cameras: Camera #1 – console

instrument view Camera #2 – presenter

view

TelePresence SX80 Codex:

provides real time transmission of video,

audio, and presentation content to remote sites.

TelePresenceTablet & Lectern

75” Display with Touch

Overlay

65” Display

Microphone

Cisco TelePresence System configuration in reactor control room

reactor console

Metals and semiconductors (defects, fatigue)

Nuclear materials (radiation damage characterization) Graphite and SiC

Nuclear fuel (microstructure and performance)

Polymers morphology Free volume, glass transition, thin films

Nanocomposite, immobilized layer

Diffusion barriers, capping layers, pore sealing

Membranes for gas/liquid filtration

Nanoporous low-k dielectrics

High surface area materials (energy storage, gas filtration)

Construction and shielding materials Imaging

Instrument and component performance testing In situ monitoring

Elemental analysis

Utilization

UNC system “Board of Governors Center”

Instrumented to be multidisciplinary

Average annually 6000 user hours

40% external to UNC system

Academic users 55%

NCSU Nuclear Engineering 20%

Non academic users 45%

Utilization

Scholarly product

Publications (peer reviewed) 25-30

Education and training

NC State Undergraduate students: 150-200

NC State Master's students: > 50

NC State PhD students: > 50

K-12 students: > 20

External undergraduate students: 10

External graduate students: 5

Other (postdocs, industry professionals, etc.): 10

Annual expenditures $2.5 million

80% external funding

Annual Utilization Metrics

The Nuclear Reactor Program (NRP) at NCSU is a multidisciplinary UNC system center that is dedicated to serving the educational and research needs of internal and external users

Full support of users including work with irradiated materials

The PULSTAR reactor can provide irradiation and materials examination services

Neutron powder diffraction

Positron annihilation spectrometry

Neutron imaging

Fuel fission gas release loop

irradiation testing and elemental analysis

The available facilities are complementary of national facilities

Capabilities can be offered on-site and monitored remotely (e.g., using the internet)

Summary