Viability of a Cryogenic Irradiation Facility at the Penn State Breazeale Reactor
Open Access
Author:
Emler, Casey
Area of Honors:
Nuclear Engineering
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jeffrey A Geuther, Thesis Supervisor Elia Merzari, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
cryogenic irradiation nuclear reactor
Abstract:
Penn State’s Breazeale Nuclear Reactor contains a variety of dry tubes and fixtures used for irradiation experiments. The reactor currently does not have the capability of performing cryogenic irradiation testing. A cryogenic irradiation facility is desired for low-temperature irradiation testing of material specimens for various applications. In this thesis, the viability of a cryogenic irradiation facility at the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor was investigated. It was determined that an irradiation rig, placed within the fast neutron irradiation tube, was the most promising method. The rig will be cooled via a liquid nitrogen pumping system and heat transfer will be mitigated through a combination of multi-layer insulation and a vacuum pumping system. An MCNP model of the core was used to estimate gamma heating within the rig. After performing a simplified heat transfer analysis, it was determined that reactor pool water would not freeze during operation. Low temperature irradiation testing of materials was therefore found to be feasible at the facility.
