Special Experimental Environment for Generation IV Reactors with Graphite Reflector

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for new small modular reactors (SMR) reactors with a wide range of applications, often classified as a new Generation-IV reactors. Unfortunately, there is no commercially operating nuclear reactor meeting the characteristics of Generation-IV reactors in its technical design and features. However, Generation-IV nuclear reactors are intensively developed worldwide, including the Czech Republic. To support research activities linked with the development of these reactors, an appropriate experimental environment and resources simulating conditions expected in Generation-IV reactors with graphite are needed This work builds on previous research and presents a special arrangement of the LR-0 reactor core with a double-row graphite reflector, on which the influence of graphite on the neutron field shaping and power distribution was experimentally and computationally verified. The main reason for this article is to investigate the effect of the graphite reflector, which will serve as a support for the development of neutron instrumentation for Generation-IV reactors and other support for Generation-IV research activities. The results confirm the conclusions of previous research and also provide a better knowledge of the double-row graphite reflector neutron field. The presented and tested LR-0 core arrangement is included in a set of experiments supporting the research of reactor cores with graphite reflectors.