Nuclear Science and Technology

The Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) with the nominal power of 500 kW was reconstructed and upgraded from the USA 250-kW TRIGA Mark-II reactor built in early 1960s. The renovated reactor was put into operation on 20th March 1984. It was designed for the purposes of radioisotope production (RI), neutron activation analysis (NAA), basic and applied researches, and nuclear education and training. During the last 30 years of operation, the DNRR was efficiently utilized for producing many kinds of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine centers and other users in industry, agriculture, hydrology and scientific research; developing a combination of nuclear analysis techniques (INAA, RNAA, PGNAA) and physic-chemical methods for quantitative analysis of about 70 elements and constituents in various samples; carrying out experiments on the reactor horizontal beam tubes for nuclear data measurement, neutron radiography and nuclear structure study; and establishing nuclear training and education programs for human resource development. This paper presents the results of operation and utilization of the DNRR. In addition, some main reactor renovation projects carried out during the last 10 years are also mentioned in the paper.

The Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) with the nominal power of 500 kW was reconstructed and upgraded from the USA 250-kW TRIGA Mark-II reactor built in early 1960s. The renovated reactor was put into operation on 20th March 1984. It was designed for the purposes of radioisotope production (RI), neutron activation analysis (NAA), basic and applied researches, and nuclear education and training. During the last 30 years of operation, the DNRR was efficiently utilized for producing many kinds of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine centers and other users in industry, agriculture, hydrology and scientific research; developing a combination of nuclear analysis techniques (INAA, RNAA, PGNAA) and physic-chemical methods for quantitative analysis of about 70 elements and constituents in various samples; carrying out experiments on the reactor horizontal beam tubes for nuclear data measurement, neutron radiography and nuclear structure study; and establishing nuclear training and education programs for human resource development. This paper presents the results of operation and utilization of the DNRR. In addition, some main reactor renovation projects carried out during the last 10 years are also mentioned in the paper.

The paper presents calculated results of neutronics, steady state thermal hydraulics and transient/accidents analyses for full core conversion from High Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR). In this work, the characteristics of working core using 92 LEU fuel assemblies and 12 beryllium rods were investigated by using many computer codes including MCNP, REBUS, VARI3D for neutronics, PLTEMP3.8 for steady state thermal hydraulics, RELAP/MOD3.2 for transient analyses and ORIGEN, MACCS2 for maximum  hypothetical accident (MHA). Moreover, in neutronics calculation, neutron flux, power distribution, peaking factor, burn up distribution, feedback reactivity coefficients and kinetics parameters of the working core were calculated. In addition, cladding temperature, coolant temperature and ONB margin were estimated in steady state thermal hydraulics investigation. The working core was also analyzed under initiating events of uncontrolled withdrawal of a control rod, cooling pump failure, earthquake and MHA. Obtained results show that DNRR loaded with LEU fuel has all safety features as HEU and mixed HEU-LEU fuel cores and meets requirements in utilization as well.

Based on the extended Nambu-Jona–Lasinio (NJL) model with the scalar-vector eightpoint interaction [15], we consider what ultimately happens to exact chiral nuclear matter as it is heated. In the realm of very high temperature the fundamental degrees of freedom of the strong interaction, quarks and gluons, come into play and a transition from nuclear matter consisting of confined baryons and mesons to a state with ‘liberated’ quarks and gluons is expected. In this paper, the hadron-quark phase transition occurs above a limited temperature and after the chiral phase transition in the nuclear matter. There is a so-called quarkyonic- like phase, in which the chiral symmetry is restored but the elementary excitation modes are nucleonic at high density, appears just before deconfinement.PACS: 21.65.-f, 21.65.Mn, 11.30.Rd, 12.39.Ba, 25.75.Nq, 68.35.Rh

A coupled neutronics thermal-hydraulics code NODAL3 has been developed based on the nodal few-group neutron diffusion theory in 3-dimensional Cartesian geometry for a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) static and transient analyses, especially for reactivity initiated accidents (RIA).The spatial variables are treated by using a polynomial nodal method (PNM) while for the neutron dynamic solver the adiabatic and improved quasi-static methods are adopted. A simple single channel thermal-hydraulics module and its steam table is implemented into the code. Verification works on static and transient benchmarks are being conducted to assess the accuracy of the code. For the static benchmark verification, the IAEA-2D, IAEA-3D, BIBLIS and KOEBERG light water reactor (LWR) benchmark problems were selected, while for the transient benchmark verification, the OECD NEACRP 3-D LWR Core Transient Benchmark and NEA-NSC 3-D/1-D PWR Core Transient Benchmark (Uncontrolled Withdrawal of Control Rods at Zero Power). Excellent agreement of the NODAL3 results with the reference solutions and other validated nodal codes was confirmed

A coupled neutronics thermal-hydraulics code NODAL3 has been developed based on the nodal few-group neutron diffusion theory in 3-dimensional Cartesian geometry for a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) static and transient analyses, especially for reactivity initiated accidents (RIA).The spatial variables are treated by using a polynomial nodal method (PNM) while for the neutron dynamic solver the adiabatic and improved quasi-static methods are adopted. A simple single channel thermal-hydraulics module and its steam table is implemented into the code. Verification works on static and transient benchmarks are being conducted to assess the accuracy of the code. For the static benchmark verification, the IAEA-2D, IAEA-3D, BIBLIS and KOEBERG light water reactor (LWR) benchmark problems were selected, while for the transient benchmark verification, the OECD NEACRP 3-D LWR Core Transient Benchmark and NEA-NSC 3-D/1-D PWR Core Transient Benchmark (Uncontrolled Withdrawal of Control Rods at Zero Power). Excellent agreement of the NODAL3 results with the reference solutions and other validated nodal codes was confirmed

The paper presents calculated results of neutronics, steady state thermal hydraulics and transient/accidents analyses for full core conversion from High Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR). In this work, the characteristics of working core using 92 LEU fuel assemblies and 12 beryllium rods were investigated by using many computer codes including MCNP, REBUS, VARI3D for neutronics, PLTEMP3.8 for steady state thermal hydraulics, RELAP/MOD3.2 for transient analyses and ORIGEN, MACCS2 for maximum  hypothetical accident (MHA). Moreover, in neutronics calculation, neutron flux, power distribution, peaking factor, burn up distribution, feedback reactivity coefficients and kinetics parameters of the working core were calculated. In addition, cladding temperature, coolant temperature and ONB margin were estimated in steady state thermal hydraulics investigation. The working core was also analyzed under initiating events of uncontrolled withdrawal of a control rod, cooling pump failure, earthquake and MHA. Obtained results show that DNRR loaded with LEU fuel has all safety features as HEU and mixed HEU-LEU fuel cores and meets requirements in utilization as well.

The neutron filter technique has been applied to create mono-energetic neutron beams with high intensity, at the horizontal channels No.2 and No.4 of the Dalat nuclear research reactor. The mono-energetic neutron beams that have been developed for researches and applications are thermal (0.025eV), 24keV, 54keV, 59keV, 133keV and 148keV. The relative intensities of main peak in filtered neutron energy spectra and the collimated neutron fluxes at the sample irradiation positions are 90 ¸ 96% and 2.8×105 ¸ 7.8×106 n/cm2.s, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations and transmission calculations were performed to each neutron energy beam for optimal design of geometrical structure and neutron filter materials. These filtered neutron beams have been applied efficiently for experimental researches on neutron total and capture cross sections measurements, and elemental analysis in various kinds of samples based on the prompt gamma neutron activation analysis method. This paper reviews the progress of filtered neutron beams development and its applications for past many years at the Dalat nuclear research reactor.

The neutron filter technique has been applied to create mono-energetic neutron beams with high intensity, at the horizontal channels No.2 and No.4 of the Dalat nuclear research reactor. The mono-energetic neutron beams that have been developed for researches and applications are thermal (0.025eV), 24keV, 54keV, 59keV, 133keV and 148keV. The relative intensities of main peak in filtered neutron energy spectra and the collimated neutron fluxes at the sample irradiation positions are 90 ¸ 96% and 2.8×105 ¸ 7.8×106 n/cm2.s, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations and transmission calculations were performed to each neutron energy beam for optimal design of geometrical structure and neutron filter materials. These filtered neutron beams have been applied efficiently for experimental researches on neutron total and capture cross sections measurements, and elemental analysis in various kinds of samples based on the prompt gamma neutron activation analysis method. This paper reviews the progress of filtered neutron beams development and its applications for past many years at the Dalat nuclear research reactor.

An auto-pneumatic transfer system has been installed at the Dalat research reactor for rapid instrument neutron activation analysis based on very short-lived nuclides. This system can be used to perform short irradiations in seconds either in the vertical channel 13-2 or in the horizontal thermal column of the reactor. The transferring time of sample from irradiation to measurement position is approximately 3.2 seconds. A loss-free counting system using HPGE detector has been also setup in compacting with the pneumatic transfer system for measurement of sample’s activity, automatically starting for data acquisition at irradiated sample’s arrival. This new facility was tested and shown to have high potential for the determination of short-lived nuclides with half-lives from 10 ¸ 100 seconds. This work presents the results of timing parameter measurements, characterization of irradiation facilities, and application of this system to determining Selenium concentration in several biological reference materials.