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Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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Norway’s Halden reactor takes first step toward decommissioning
The government of Norway has granted the transfer of the Halden research reactor from the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) to the state agency Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning (NND). The 25-MWt Halden boiling water reactor operated from 1958 to 2018 and was used in the research of nuclear fuel, reactor internals, plant procedures and monitoring, and human factors.
Kenji Kikuchi, Hideo Kaburaki, Konomo Sanokawa, Katsuyuki Kawaguchi, Masaaki Nemoto, Shintaro Watanabe
Nuclear Technology | Volume 66 | Number 3 | September 1984 | Pages 491-502
E. Friction and Wear | Status of Metallic Materials Development for Application in Advanced High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT84-A33471
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In a very high temperature gas-cooled reactor developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, reactor components, such as heat transfer tubes (Hastelloy-XR) of an intermediate heat exchanger, hot duct liners (Hastelloy-XR), core support plates ( Cr-1 Mo steel), control rod sheaths (Hastelloy-XR), orifice devices (SUS 304), fuel blocks (graphite), and others, are exposed to helium gas coolant with a temperature of 1000°C and a pressure of 4.1 MPa. The relative sliding movements of the structure, which are stimulated by flow-induced vibration, constraint force, and thermal expansion, might cause unfavorable friction and wear. Sliding wear tests were carried out on PGX graphite, Cr-1 Mo steel, and heat- and corrosion-resistant Hastelloy-XR in 500 to 1000°C. Environmental helium gas pressures of 0.2 and 4.1 MPa were chosen to compare the influence of the pressures. The effects of four different impurity gases (O2, H2, H2O, and CH4) on tribological behavior were studied, each gas concentration being varied up to ∼103 ppm. The specimen was a hemisphere-on-plate type, the plate being oscillated with a 5-Hz frequency and a 0.5-mm amplitude under a 9.8-N contacting load. The test duration was 3 h. In the case of Hastelloy-XR against itself, wear was adhesive in general, but the friction coefficient decreased to ∼0.3 in the environment with high-O2 concentration, and a relatively thick oxide film was found on the sliding surface. The results of calorized Hastelloy-XR against PGX graphite showed little dependence on impurity gas, and a lower value friction coefficient of ∼0.1 was obtained. In Cr-1 Mo steel against PGX graphite, thin layers of Fe2O3 and/or Fe3O4 were formed on the metal surfaces in the environment containing O2, and the friction coefficient gradually increased with high-O2 concentration. The case of PGX graphite against itself gave a low friction coefficient of ∼0.1 in the environment of high-O2 concentration, whereas in other impurity gases the value was ∼0.4.
