TRIGA

TRIGA research reactor is a type in the swimming pool design ( the acronym stands for Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomic ). TRIGA reactors are a few kilowatts ( 20 kW) to several megawatts ( 20 MW) in general turnkey supplied by the manufacturer General Atomics.

The idea for this type of reactor is from Edward Teller. The design team was led by Freeman Dyson.

Operation

TRIGA reactors can be operated in pulse mode. This means that the reactor is approached unregulated until the prompt supercritical state. The neutron flux and thus the heat output increases very rapidly until the negative temperature coefficient of the fuel makes the reactor subcritical again. The pulse duration is about 30 ms. Due to the residual heat in the fuel assemblies of the reactor must be allowed to cool until the next pulse. In this operation, high -power pulses and neutron flux densities can be achieved that would not be possible in a continuous operation.

History

The first prototype was on May 3, 1958 in San Diego in operation. He was shut down in 1997. The American Nuclear Society awarded the plant in 1985 Nuclear Historic Landmark Award. The first design needed to 19.75 % U -235 enriched uranium. As part of the initiative, launched by President Eisenhower Atoms for Peace initiative of this type has been sold to many countries. Starting in 1978, the reactors were switched to running with low enriched uranium.

There are three different types of reactor.

Fuel rods

The fuel rods for the reactors were first manufactured in San Diego (USA). Since 1995, the production was carried out by TRIGA International. 50 % of the company are held by General Atomics, the other 50% of CERCA, a subsidiary of Areva. The production of the fuel rods was moved to Romans- sur -Isère (France).

Nuclear waste

The spent fuel rods are withdrawn from the U.S..