Universities Research Reactor
Encyclopedia
Universities Research Reactor, also known as Universities' Research Reactor or University Research Reactor, was a small nuclear research reactor in Risley, Warrington
, England
.
It was jointly owned by
Manchester
and Liverpool
universities and used for performing neutron activation
work and training reactor operator
s.
This Argonaut class reactor
was opened in 1962.,
The reactor used highly enriched uranium
metal fuel clad in aluminium.
The fuel elements consisted of bundles of flat plates rather than rods.
The core was cooled by light water.
The fuel elements were situated within six open-topped aluminium tanks containing water that were separated and surrounded by graphite. This meant that moderation was part by the water within the tanks and part by graphite - with graphite serving as the reflector.
Reactivity control was provided by four semaphore signal–type control blades held by magnetic clutches to shafts that could be driven by geared electric motors. The blades were made of cadmium plates rivetted to aluminium blades. The insertion of a single blade was sufficient to shut down the fission chain reaction.
The simple control system did not use voting logic. Any detected fault resulted in an immediate scram. Power failure also produced an immediate scram as the magnetic clutches on the control blades would disengage, certain control instrumentation had battery back up support.
The heat generated by fission was carried away by the cooling water and disposed of outside the facility by means of a forced-draft cooling radiator. Due to the small size of the core and low burn up of the fuel, the disposal of fission product heating was not an issue.
Concrete shielding was used.
The concrete shielding was penetrated by a number of holes enabling neutron beams to be obtained for the purpose of irradiating samples and several pipes that enabled samples in sample carriers to be inserted into the reactor and subsequently removed to the adjoining radiochemical laboratory for study.
In later years the reactor was rated at 300 kW thermal however originally the output was 100 kW thermal.
A study was undertaken (around 1980) to investigate increasing the power to 1 MW thermal; however, this was deemed to be too difficult and the plans were abandoned.
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was jointly owned by
Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
and Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
universities and used for performing neutron activation
Neutron activation
Neutron activation is the process in which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited states. The excited nucleus often decays immediately by emitting particles such as neutrons, protons, or alpha...
work and training reactor operator
Reactor operator
A reactor operator is an individual at a nuclear power plant who is responsible for directly controlling a nuclear reactor from a control panel and is the only individual at a nuclear power plant who can directly alter significant amounts of reactor reactivity...
s.
This Argonaut class reactor
Argonaut class reactor
The Argonaut class reactor is a design of small nuclear research reactor. Many have been built throughout the world, over a wide range of power levels...
was opened in 1962.,
The reactor used highly enriched uranium
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
metal fuel clad in aluminium.
The fuel elements consisted of bundles of flat plates rather than rods.
The core was cooled by light water.
The fuel elements were situated within six open-topped aluminium tanks containing water that were separated and surrounded by graphite. This meant that moderation was part by the water within the tanks and part by graphite - with graphite serving as the reflector.
Reactivity control was provided by four semaphore signal–type control blades held by magnetic clutches to shafts that could be driven by geared electric motors. The blades were made of cadmium plates rivetted to aluminium blades. The insertion of a single blade was sufficient to shut down the fission chain reaction.
The simple control system did not use voting logic. Any detected fault resulted in an immediate scram. Power failure also produced an immediate scram as the magnetic clutches on the control blades would disengage, certain control instrumentation had battery back up support.
The heat generated by fission was carried away by the cooling water and disposed of outside the facility by means of a forced-draft cooling radiator. Due to the small size of the core and low burn up of the fuel, the disposal of fission product heating was not an issue.
Concrete shielding was used.
The concrete shielding was penetrated by a number of holes enabling neutron beams to be obtained for the purpose of irradiating samples and several pipes that enabled samples in sample carriers to be inserted into the reactor and subsequently removed to the adjoining radiochemical laboratory for study.
In later years the reactor was rated at 300 kW thermal however originally the output was 100 kW thermal.
A study was undertaken (around 1980) to investigate increasing the power to 1 MW thermal; however, this was deemed to be too difficult and the plans were abandoned.