Structure Design of Jordan Subcritical Reactor

The subcritical reactor is a kind of small nuclear facility, which may realize the chain reactor reaction through introducing an external neutron source to meet with the production, research, teaching, testing and training purposes. Meanwhile, the subcritical reactor will not reach the critical status, which has advantages of simple structure, safety, reliability. Jordan subcritical reactor is a light water moderated reactor, it employs the Pu-Be as external neutron source, and the neutron multiplication factor in the range of 0.94～0.95. Jordan subcritical reactor mainly consists of fuel elements, reactor core and reactor core vessel assembly, operation platform, water loop system, neutron source driving system, which can be used for the purposes of teaching, training, testing and research. This paper reviews the international application history of subcritical reactor and its status of research and development, describes the design purpose and requirement of Jordan subcritical reactor. The detailed structure design of Jordan subcritical reactor is illustrated. Furthermore, the structure design characteristics and some difficulties of Jordan subcritical reactor are mentioned in detail, such as the choose of structure materials, lay out of Jordan subcritical reactor, control of machining precision and sealing of pipes. Then, the possible solutions of these problems are presented. Now, the manufacture and installation of Jordan subcritical reactor has been completed, which fulfill the anticipated design requirement.