Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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# 52013SC0238

**COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER Accompanying document to the Report "Operation of the High Flux Reactor in the year 2011" /\* SWD/2013/0238 final \*/**

  

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER

Accompanying document to the Report
"Operation of the High Flux Reactor in the year 2011"

1.           Introduction

This staff working document is a companion
document to the Report from the Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament "Operation of the High Flux Reactor in the year 2011".

The High Flux Reactor (HFR), located in
Petten (The Netherlands), is one of the most powerful multi-purpose materials
testing reactors in the world. The reactor is of the tank-in-pool type, light
water cooled, moderated and operated at 45 MW. In operation since 1961, and
following a new vessel replacement in 1984 and large repair in 2010 on the
Bottom Plug Liners (BPL), the reactor provides a variety of irradiation location
possibilities (reactor core, reflector region and in the poolside). Horizontal
beam tubes are available for research with neutrons as well as gamma
irradiation facilities. Furthermore, excellently equipped hot cell laboratories
on the site provide Post Irradiation Examinations possibilities.

The European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom) is the owner of the plant (for a lease of 99 years from the Dutch
state). The HFR is managed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre
(JRC) and operated by the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG). The
close co-operation between the JRC and the NRG on all aspects of nuclear
research and technology has led to a unique HFR structure, in which both
organisations are involved. The JRC is the plant and budget manager and develops
a platform around HFR as a tool for European collaborative programmes, while
NRG operates and maintains the plant and manages the commercial activities
around the reactor. Furthermore each organisation provides complementary
possibilities around the reactor activities, such as the hot cell facilities of
NRG or the experiment commissioning laboratory of the JRC.

As of February 2005, NRG has become the
holder of the operation licence granted under the Dutch Nuclear Energy Law.

During the last three decades the HFR has
been operated from supplementary research programmes regularly discussed and
approved by the European Council. On 25 May 2009, the European Council adopted
a three-year (2009-2011) supplementary research programme to be implemented by
the JRC for Euratom concerning the operation of the Community’s High Flux
Reactor.

The present document reports the results of
the implementation of the scientific and technical activities for the year 2011.
The report also provides information regarding the financial contributions
received for the execution of the programme and the yearly contribution to the
decommissioning fund that the supplementary research programme provides to
Euratom.

1.           HFR:
Reactor Management

The HFR reactor has an operating licence
granted by the Dutch national regulator, the Kernfysische
Dienst. In April 2011, the HFR has been the subject of an independent INtegrated Safety Assessment for Research Reactors (INSARR) review mission performed by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

1.1.        HFR Safety, Operation and
Related Services

Operating Schedule

In 2011 the regular cycle pattern consisted
of a scheduled number of 293 operation days and two maintenance periods of 19
and 16 days respectively. The In-Service Inspection of the north and south
reducer and the annual leak test of the reactor containment were performed
during the summer maintenance period in August 2011, which implied a final
effective annual operation time of the HFR of 290 days (see Figure 1). This performance
corresponds to an actual availability of 99.22 % with reference to the original
scheduled operation plan.

Nominal power was 45 MW with a total energy
production in 2011 of approximately 13,008 MWd, corresponding to a fuel
consumption of about 16.24 kg U-235. The detailed operating characteristics are
given in Table 1.

During the reporting period the power
distribution measurements for the FLUX 2011 programme was carried out. In the
framework of the regular HFR operators’ training, the annual 30 MW reactor
training course for the operators was performed after the scheduled end of each
cycle at 45 MW operation.

HFR cycle 11.08 was preceded by short runs
of reactivity measurements at low power. The aim of the measurements was to
test the reactivity characteristics of two new fresh fuel elements. The result
of the measurements showed that the characteristics were consistent with
regular fuel elements and that the elements could be used as test elements in
the HFR starting with cycle 11.08.

All details on power interruptions and
power disturbances, which occurred in 2011, are given in Table 2. This table
shows that twelve automatic reactor scrams, two manual reactor shut-downs and
three automatic power decreases occurred (see also figure 2). Two of these
scrams were due to human intervention while the remaining ones were due to normal
intervention by the safety protection systems of the reactor instrumentation
devices.

Figure 1: HFR availability

Figure 2:
HFR unscheduled shutdowns

Maintenance Activities

In 2011 the maintenance activities
consisted of the preventive, corrective and breakdown maintenance of all Systems,
Structures and Components of the HFR, as described in the annual and long-term
maintenance plans. These activities are executed with the objective to enable
the safe and reliable operation of the HFR and to prevent inadvertent scrams
caused by insufficient maintenance.

The periodic leak testing, as one of the
licence requirements (0.5 bars overpressure for 48 hours duration) and the In-Service
Inspection of the north and south reducers, were also successfully performed.
As part of the HFR Modification Plan, several modifications were performed
(LOCA 4, 5 and 6). All modifications were implemented after the revision of the
plant description and operating instructions and following successful
commissioning and testing and licensing approval where necessary.

1.2.        Fuel cycle

Front end

During 2011, 50 Low Enriched Uranium (LEU)
fuel elements and 15 control rods were inspected at the manufacturer’s site and
delivered to Petten. Since May 2006, the HFR is running completely on LEU fuel.

Back end

In the first quarter of 2011, the last 18
High Enriched Uranium (HEU) spent fuel elements were shipped in a CASTOR MTR2
container to the storage facility (HABOG) of the Dutch Central Organisation for
Radioactive Waste (COVRA). Before this shipment, all HEU spent fuel elements
used in the HFR have been either sent back to the USA (between 2005 and 2006)
or are stored in the HABOG.

Support has also been provided to the “Interfacultair
Reactor Instituut” (IRI) of TU Delft in the second quarter of 2011 by providing
a MTR-2 container and equipment for a transport of spent fuel from the Delft
research reactor to the HABOG by making available .

In the third quarter of 2011, the “Gesellschaft
für Nuklear-Service” (GNS) successfully carried out the compulsory 3 years
inspection of the MTR2 container GP-24, the 6 year inspection of the MTR2
container GP-23, as well as of other transport and ancillary equipment.

Table 1: 2011 operational characteristics

|| || || || OPERATING TIME || SHUT-DOWN TIME || ||

Cycle Begin‑End || HFR Cycle || Generated Energy || Planned || Low Power || Nom. Power || Other Use || Total || Planned || Unscheduled || Number of Interruptions ||

2011 || || MWd || hrs || h.min || h.min || h.min || h.min || h.min || h.min || Power Dec. || Scram ||

01.01 – 12.01 || 11.01 || 510.04 || 272 || || 272.00 || || 272.05 || 16.00 || || || ||

13.01 – 13.02 || 11.02 || 1291.83 || 688 || 02.05 || 688.41 || || 690.46 || 77.08 || 00.06 || || 1 ||

14.02 – 16.03 || 11.03 || 1247.90 || 664 || 03.16 || 666.09 || || 669.25 || 74.25 || 00.10 || 1 || 1 ||

17.03 – 17.04 || 11.04 || 1204.75 || || 04.51 || 640.48 || || 645.39 || 74.21 || 47.00 || || 4 ||

18.04 – 06.05 || Maintenance period || 456.00 || || || ||

07.05 – 05.06 || 11.05 || 1279.33 || 688 || 02.23 || 681.45 || || 684.08 || 35.33 || 00.19 || || 3 ||

06.06 – 05.07 || 11.06 || 1201.73 || 640 || 02.34 || 639.17 || || 641.51 || 78.00 || 00.09 || || 2 ||

06.07 – 07.08 || 11.07 || 1281.66 || 688 || 05.45 || 682.16 || || 688.01 || 102.05 || 01.54 || || 2 ||

08.08 – 23.08 || Maintenance period and ISI inspection reducers || 384.00 || || || ||

24.08 – 23.09 || 11.08 || 1239.51 || 664 || 04.20 || 660.19 || || 664.39 || 77.39 || 01.42 || 1 || ||

24.09 – 24.10 || 11.09 || 1253.50 || 664 || 02.23 || 666.45 || || 669.08 || 74.52 || || || ||

25.10 – 27.11 || 11.10 || 1248.37 || 688 || 03.18 || 661.05 || || 664.23 || 122.32 || 30.05 || 1 || 1 ||

28.11 – 28.12 || 11.11 || 1232.69 || 664 || 01.43 || 657.45 || || 659.28 || 84.32 || || || ||

29.12 – 31.12 || 12.01 || 16.94 || 8 || 01.55 || 08.45 || || 10.40 || 61.20 || || || ||

TOTAL : || 13008.27 || 7016 || 35.52 || 6925.35 || || 6961.27 || 1717.08 || 81.25 || 3 || 14 ||

|| Percentage of total time in 2011 (8760 h): || 0.41 || 79.06 || || 79.47 || 19.60 || 0.93 || ||

Table 2: 2011 full power interruptions of HFR

DATE || CYCLE || TIME OF ACTION || RESTART OR POWER IN-CREASE || NOMINAL/ORIGINALPOWER || ELAPSED TIME TO || DISTURBANCE CODE || REACTOR SYSTEM OR EXPERIMENT CODE || COMMENTS

RESTART OR POWER INCREASE || NOMINAL/ ORIGINAL POWER || 1 || MW || 2 || 3 ||

2011 || || hour || hour || hour || h.min || h.min || || || || || ||

11 Feb || 11.02 || 16.16 || 16.22 || 16.35 || 00.06 || 00.13 || AS || 0 || A || E || Main Power interruption || Main power interruption caused an automatic reactor shutdown.

24 Feb || 11.03 || 16.16 || 16.22 || 16.35 || 00.06 || 00.13 || AP || 37.5 || R || H || Power demand || A wrong switch was activated so that the reactor power demand was not switched on, with as result an automatic power decrease.

27 Feb || 11.03 || 00.33 || 00.43 || 01.06 || 00.10 || 00.23 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

29 Mar || 11.04 || 09.42 || 08.21 || 09.30 || 46.31 || 47.48 || MS || 0 || R || M || Power demand || The control rod could not be moved due to a defect in power demand, the reactor was stopped manually.

01 Apr || 11.04 || 00.42 || 00.51 || 01.24 || 00.09 || 00.33 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too high with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

01 Apr || 11.04 || 01.33 || 01.38 || 01.55 || 00.06 || 00.16 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

14 Apr || 11.04 || 16.04 || 16.10 || 16.24 || 00.06 || 00.20 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

09 May || 11.05 || 22.33 || 22.38 || 23.00 || 00.05 || 00.22 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

20 May || 11.05 || 11.00 || 11.08 || 11.24 || 00.08 || 00.16 || MS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Manual shut-down for testing the reactor interlock settings of cooling water systems of experiment 354-01.

31 May || 11.05 || 22.33 || 22.39 || 22.50 || 00.06 || 00.11 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

14 Jun || 11.06 || 09.21 || 09.26 || 09.43 || 00.05 || 00.22 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

14 Jun || 11.06 || 11.44 || 11.48 || 12.05 || 00.04 || 00.21 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

01 Aug || 11.07 || 14.18 || 14.22 || 14.39 || 00.04 || 00.21 || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 292-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 292-01 too high with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

07 Aug || 11.07 || 06.10 || || || || || AS || 0 || P || I || Experiment 354-01 || Cooling water pressure of experiment 354-01 too low with an automatic reactor shut-down as result.

02 Sep || 11.08 || 11.40 || 11.44 || 11.48 || 00.04 || 00.08 || MP || 35 || P || S || Experiment 354-02 || Reactor power temporary decreased to 35 MW to check if the production of bubbles in the cooling water outlet of Prod. Facility 354-02 depends on the reactor power.

29 Oct || 11.10 || 22.29 || || || || || AP || 0 || R || A || Reactor Ventilation || Reactor ventilation stopped due to the failure of a relay in the instrumentation. This caused an automatic power decrease to 0 MW

31 Oct || 11.10 || || 03.45 || 04.15 || 30.01 || 00.30 || || || || || Restart || After repair and Xenon decay the reactor was restarted on 31 Oct at 03.45 hr.

04 Nov || 11.10 || 08.34 || 08.38 || 09.03 || 00.04 || 00.25 || AS || 0 || A || E || Main power interruption || Main power interruption caused an automatic reactor shutdown

|| || || || ||

1. LEADING TO || 2. RELATED TO || || || 3. CAUSE ||

- automatic shut-down || AS || || - reactor || R || || - scheduled || S

- manual shut-down || MS || || - experiment || E || || - requirements || R

- automatic power decrease || AP || || - auxiliary system || A || || - instrumentation || I

- manual power decrease || MP || || - production facility || P || || - mechanical || M

|| || || || - electrical || E

|| || || - human || H

2.           INSAAR 2011

At the request of the Dutch authorities, a
full scope IAEA-INSARR mission was performed at the HFR in March 2011. The
general objectives of the mission were to conduct a comprehensive safety review
of the HFR research reactor according to the applicable documents and IAEA
standards.

The findings/recommendations formulated in
the previous IAEA-INSARR mission (13-18 February 2005) and in the 2010 IAEA
inspection dedicated to the repair of the BPL were also scrutinized, in order
to determine the degree of implementation of the related corrective actions. The
safety areas to be examined in detail were determined in a Pre-INSARR mission in
January 2011.

The INSARR Team (3 IAEA experts + 5
external experts) and inspectors of the Dutch regulatory body conducted the
review by means of documentation analyses, facilities walk-through, and
observation of the operations and interviews with the personnel.

The INSARR review concluded that all the recommendations/suggestions
deriving from the safety review regarding the BPL repair and about 50% of those
deriving from the INSARR 2005 mission have been addressed. The implementation
of all the corrective actions will be completed in 2012.

3.           EU Stress Tests

Following the nuclear disaster in
Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011, all of the nuclear power plants in Europe were
subject to stress tests. Although the HFR is not a power plant, but a research
and isotope production reactor, it was subject of such a stress test on both the
reactor and on the other nuclear facilities on the nuclear site.

The stress test investigated the impact of
flooding events, earthquakes and extreme weather as well as events resulting
from human activities (such as explosions, fires, malevolence and aircraft
crashes). NRG has employed the same scenarios as used for nuclear power plants,
which were ‘tailored’ to the specific nature of the facilities in Petten.

The results of this test showed that the
nuclear installations in Petten met all of the safety-relevant licensing requirements
and can also withstand a wide range of extreme external conditions, including flooding
and earthquakes or a combination of both.

The stress test also showed that it is
feasible to increase even more the safety margins by taking a number of
measures. For example, measures that can be taken: to install seismic
instrumentation with notification in control room, to make it possible to
rapidly install an external generator for power supply to vital reactor systems;
to improve the anchoring of water storage tanks in the event of an earthquake
or flood; to improve the autonomy of the emergency response organisation; to
develop new procedures when there is a threat of a serious situation.

Finally, a number of other identified
measures which can be envisaged to increase robustness of the nuclear
facilities on the HFR site will be investigated to see whether any additional
measures could contribute to increasing the current safety margins.

4.           HFR
as a Tool for Research

4.1.        Network
on Neutron Techniques Standardization for Structural Integrity (NeT)

The European Network on Neutron Techniques
Standardization for Structural Integrity (NeT) supports progress towards
improved performance and safety of European nuclear energy production systems.
The JRC organises and manages the Network and it contributes to the scientific
work through the neutron scattering for residual stress measurement and
assessment of thermal material ageing effects, using its beam tube facilities
at the HFR.

The 19th and 20th Steering Committee
Meetings of NeT took place in June and December in 2011, respectively. About 35
organisations are actively participating in the work of NeT, including eight
organisations from the new EU Member States and three organisations from
candidate countries. From outside the EU, organisations from Japan, Australia
and Russia are actively contributing to NeT. Furthermore, in 2011 for the first
time measurements for NeT have been undertaken at the Spallation Neutron Source
in Oak Ridge, TN, USA.

While the final output documents of the
first Task Group of NeT are being drafted, a new activity has been defined on
residual stress investigations in a welded nickel-base alloy plate. Other
possible future activities have been under discussion during the year. Furthermore
the NeT Task Group 1 has been setting a benchmark for numerical and experimental
work available to nuclear engineers throughout the world for testing, in
particular, the performance of their numerical methods.

4.2.        Neutron diffraction investigations
at the HFR

In the reporting period a feasibility study
has been undertaken for diffraction measurements in the nickel-base alloy that
is considered for the next Task Group within NeT. Nickel has a considerably
higher neutron attenuation coefficient than iron, and in addition it also
produces a stronger background signal in neutron scattering. These effects
result in higher limitations in the material thickness that can be covered by
neutron diffraction experiments and in the need for longer counting times at
comparable peak intensity due to the higher background. It was therefore necessary
to obtain a quantitative estimation of the magnitude of the problems in order
to define the geometry of the specimens to be investigated.

The measurements were undertaken at the
Large Component Neutron Diffraction Facility at beam tube HB4 at the HFR. They
resulted in an estimate for the attenuation coefficient of 0.175 mm-1,
relevant to the particular nickel-based alloy and relevant to the
(111)-crystallographic reflection plane. As expected, this is considerably
higher than the corresponding values observed for iron-based alloys in the
past. Based on the findings it was concluded that specimens with a thickness of
12 mm could be investigated. Consequently it was decided at the NeT Steering
Committee Meeting in December 2011 that specimens of this thickness would be
manufactured for the new Task Group.

5.           Fuel
Irradiations in the HFR

In the frame of the Euratom 7th Framework
Programme (FP7), the 4‑year project FAIRFUELS (Fabrication, Irradiation
and Reprocessing of FUELS and targets for transmutation) aims at a more
efficient use of fissile material in nuclear reactors by implementing
transmutation. Transmutation provides a way to reduce the volume and hazard of
high level radioactive waste by recycling the most long-lived components. In
this way, the nuclear fuel cycle can be closed in a sustainable manner. The
FAIRFUELS consortium consists of ten European research institutes, universities
and industry. The project started in 2009 and is coordinated by NRG. In 2011, both
NRG and JRC continued working together in the planning of the HFR irradiations
that are scheduled in FAIRFUELS.

5.1.        MARIOS
Fuel Irradiation: Minor Actinide Recycling

The MARIOS irradiation programme, as part of FAIRFUELS, is a series
of irradiations dealing with heterogeneous recycling of Minor Actinides (MAs)
in sodium-cooled fast reactors (i.e. the MA-bearing blanket concept). Minor
Actinides, such as americium and curium, are long-lived elements in the high
level waste, which are currently not recycled. The aim of the MARIOS
irradiation test is to investigate more closely the behaviour of minor actinide
targets in a uranium oxide matrix carrier. In these targets, large amounts of
helium are produced, which causes significant damage to the material under
irradiation. This experiment is the first case where americium (241Am)
is included in a (natural) uranium oxide matrix Am0.15U0.85O1.94
to conduct an experiment in order to study the behaviour in terms of helium
production and swelling.

After having obtained the approval for the
irradiation, the MARIOS irradiation started as planned on 19 March 2011. The test
specifications of MARIOS, in terms of controlled working temperature of the
fuel pellets, are very strict and the first cycle showed a small deviation from
that expected. Nevertheless, due to the large operational margins foreseen in
the design of the experiment, it was possible to successfully correct the
deviation already from the second cycle. MARIOS will run till 1st
April 2012 (approximately 300 days).

5.2.        SPHERE Fuel Irradiation:
Safer Fuels

Within the FP7 FAIRFUELS project, the
irradiation test SPHERE has been planned for 2012. SPHERE has been designed to
compare conventional pellet-type fuels with so-called Sphere-Pac fuels. The
latter have the advantage of an easier, dust-free fabrication process.
Especially when dealing with highly radioactive minor actinides, dust-free
fabrication processes are essential to reduce the risk of contamination.

To assess the irradiation performance of
Sphere-Pac fuels compared to conventional pellet fuel, a dedicated SPHERE
irradiation experiment will be performed. For this purpose, americium-containing
fuel, both pellet-type and Sphere-Pac-type, will be fabricated at JRC. These
fuels will be irradiated at HFR in a dedicated test-facility. It is the first irradiation
test of this kind, as Minor Actinides bearing Sphere-Pac fuel has never been
irradiated before. The SPHERE irradiation should start in 2012 and will last
for approximately 300 full power days.

During 2011, the preliminary design of SPHERE
has been finalised. The fuel has been fabricated at JRC and some preliminary
nuclear analyses have been concluded.

6.           Materials
Irradiations

6.1.        BLACKSTONE Irradiations:
Investigation of AGR Lifetime Extension

The UK has a
fleet of Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs). In order to extend the lifetime
of the AGRs, graphite data at high dose and weight loss is required, to allow
prediction and assessment of the behaviour of AGR graphite cores beyond their
currently estimated lifetimes. Graphite degradation is considered to be one of
the key issues that will determine the remaining life of the AGRs, thus
materials property data at extended weight loss and dose is essential for
continued safe operation and lifetime extension. The BLACKSTONE irradiations use
samples extracted from AGR core graphite and subjected to accelerated
degradation in the HFR. The results are designed to enable the future behaviour
of the AGR graphite to be predicted with confidence.

The first BLACKSTONE irradiations were
completed in 2010 after achieving the required weight loss and dose levels. In
2010 the dismantling of both BLACKSTONE experiments took place and the larger
part of the post irradiation examinations have been performed in 2011. In the
meantime two new irradiations have been designed and built to achieve higher
dose and weight loss and to irradiate material from different AGRs. The
objective of these experiments is to consolidate the database produced in phase
I and to provide an extensive properties database for graphite from the Hartlepool and Heysham 1 AGRs. These Phase II experiments were loaded into the HFR core in
August 2011 and will be irradiated for a total of 11 and 16 monthly cycles
respectively.

6.2.        LYRA-10

The LYRA
irradiation rig is used in the framework of the AMES (Ageing Materials and
Evaluation Studies) European Network activities with the main goal of studying
the irradiation behaviour of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels, thermal
annealing efficiency and sensibility to re-irradiation damage.

The LYRA-10
experiment housed in the Pool Side Facility (PSF) of the HFR consists in the
irradiation of different specimens representative of RPV materials, namely
model steels, realistic welds and high-nickel welds. The model steels comprise
of 12 batches of steels with the basic, typical composition of WWER-1000 and
PWR reactor pressure vessel materials used by the JRC with the scope of
understanding the role and influence of Ni, Si, Cr and Mn as alloying elements
and certain impurities as C and V on the mechanical properties of steels.

The realistic
welds are created at eight different heats, specially manufactured on the bases
of typical WWER-1000 weld composition with variation of certain elements, such
as Ni, Si, Cr and Mn. They are of importance to investigate the role and
synergisms of alloying elements in the radiation-induced degradation of RPV
welds.

The LYRA-10
irradiation campaign started in May 2007 and up to now underwent 6 HFR cycles.
Originally planned to be irradiated for 7 more cycles, it has been decided
during the LYRA-10 outage that at least 10 more cycles will be required to
allow the analysis of an hypothetically late-blooming effect that may take
place in the irradiated materials.

In order to
proceed to the resumption of the LYRA-10 experiment, some mechanical testing
and other revamping actions have taken place in 2011. Hence, the LYRA-10
feeding lines (which form part of the gas panels to the connection set next to
the pool) were adapted following the change in the HFR glove box system. The experiment
connection head was completely renewed (i.e. removal of the plastic hose, gas
lines, etc.) and commissioned. Most of the still-pending technical issues were
resolved in 2011 and LYRA-10 is expected to be irradiated again in the PSF in
2012.

7.           Irradiation
for Fusion Reactor Technology

7.1.        CORONIS

In 2011 a new
project started in the area for material development and characterisation for
ITER. This project is conducted in the framework of Fusion for Energy, the
Europe Joint Undertaking for fusion energy, founded in 2007.

The objective
is to measure the tensile, fatigue and Charpy impact properties of CuCrZr
material and CuCrZr/316L joints before and after irradiation to 0.01, 0.1 and
0.7 dpa at 250 ºC. This material is foreseen in the shielding blanket in ITER
due to the high heat dissipation of CuCrZr to the ITER cooling water. This
property can be jeopardised if the material would fail during its operational
lifetime in ITER.

The irradiation
will be performed with the Hungarian Institute AEKI, who will take account of
the low level dose irradiation (0.01 dpa). All post-irradiation experiments
will be performed at the NRG Hot Cells. The project will run from January 2011
to September 2013.

In 2011, the
irradiation design of the two capsules to be irradiated in the HFR was
completed, including the preparation of the safety analysis report for
licensing purposes. The capsule consists of an assembly of tensile and Charpy
specimens and will be filled with sodium to increase the heat transfer during
irradiation. The capsules, named CORONIS 01 and CORONIS 2 will be irradiated in
positions H2 and G3 in the HFR for 1 and 3 cycles respectively. The start of
irradiation is planned for cycle 12-06.

8.           Isotope
Production

After three disrupted operational years for
isotope production in the HFR, 2011 was a year with a normal operational
pattern as experienced in the years before 2008. Once again, the HFR was able
to demonstrate that it plays an essential role as the largest producer of
medical isotopes in Europe and one of the largest producers in the world. The
total volume and value of the isotopes and associated services supplied from
the HFR grew again in 2011.

New interesting product development ideas
progressed, both in conventional application areas, as well as some ground
breaking areas of medical technology. Existing development projects also progressed
well.

The production of Neutron Transmutation
Doped (NTD) silicon for the specialist electronics industry was resumed after
the final repair of the HFR in September 2010. During 2011, NRG returned to
using a standard configuration of the HFR production facilities and
reintroduced the irradiation of silicon ingots to produce high quality products
used in high voltage and other specialist electronic applications that can only
be served with NTD silicon.

In 2011 NRG continued to work closely with
other players in the Medical Isotope supply network, as well as with the
Medical Community, Governments, the European Commission, AIPES, the OECD/NEA
and the IAEA. These actions were to continue to support the coordinated efforts
necessary to minimise the future risks to security of supply of critical
medical isotopes.

The European Commission fully supports the
recommendations of the OECD/NEA High Level Group on the security of supply of
medical isotopes and actively participates in the work of the European
Observatory on the supply of medical radioisotopes. NRG is working together
with other international stakeholders on important issues such as full-cost
recovery, outage reserved capacity provision, future infrastructure investment
and conversion to LEU targets for Mo-99 production. Further work to ensure the
sustainable supply of medical isotopes will be carried out in these
international forums to establish an enduring long term solution.

9.           Financial
contributions for the execution of the programme.

In 2011, the following financial
contributions were received from Member States for the execution of the
programme:

·
Belgium: 400,000 €

·
France: 300,000 €

·
The Netherlands: 8,223,000 €

It should be noted that these contributions
cover the expenses according to Annex II of Council Decision 2009/410/Euratom.
These amounts have been calculated in order to balance the forecasted costs of
the reactor for the period 2011 taking into account an expected level of
commercial income. In no case does the Commission cover any operational
deficit, including potential costs for maintenance or repair.

From this amount the Commission received 800,000
€ as provisions for the Decommissioning fund[1].

As of 31 December 2011, the total amount originating
from the decommissioning fund is 13,949,000 €

Other expenditures incurred by the JRC and
paid from the supplementary research programme budget:

·
Direct Personnel (e.g. for HFR supplementary research
program Management): 257,000 €

·
Materials : Support HFR (e.g. Legal Advice): 84,000
€, Utilities (e.g., electricity, water, heating): 582,000 €, Spent Fuel
Management: 1,652,000 €

·
Incidental Expenditures 2,222,000€

Glossary and Acronyms

BPL                             Bottom
Plug Liner

COVRA                      Dutch
Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste

dpa                             displacements
per atom

EU                               European
Union

Euratom                     European
Atomic Energy Community

FAIRFUELS              Fabrication,
Irradiation and Reprocessing of FUELS and target for transmutation

FP                               Framework
Programme

HB                              Horizontal
Beam Tube

HEU                            Highly
Enriched Uranium

HFR                            High
Flux Reactor

IAEA                          International
Atomic Energy Agency

INSARR                     INtegrated Safety Assessment of Research
Reactors

ISI                               In-Service
Inspection

ITER                           International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

JRC                             Joint
Research Centre

LEU                            Low
Enriched Uranium

MARIOS                   Minor
Actinides in Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors

NeT                            EU
Network on Neutron Techniques Standardization for Structural Integrity

NRG                            Nuclear
Research and consultancy Group

OECD/NEA               Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development / Nuclear Energy Agency

PSF                             Pool
Side Facility (PSF)

[1]               The yearly contribution to
the decommissioning fund has passed from 400,000 €/year to 800,000 €/year since
2004 due to a re-evaluation of decommissioning costs. This amount is taken from
both the regular budget of the supplementary
research programme and by the gained interest on the bank account of the
supplementary research programme
(the amount of the interest over 2011 was  333K€ and therefore, 467K€ was added
from the regular supplementary research
programme budget of 2011).

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