Purdue University HEU to LEU Conversion of PUR-1 Status Report TRTR Annual Meeting Lincoln City, OR September 2007

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR PUR-1 Conversion PUR-1 history Conversion Timeline Assembly Redesign Lessons Learned

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR PUR-1 MTR Pool type Lockheed Nuclear Products 10 kW design Licensed at 1kW in 1962 Plate type, U-Al alloy clad in 1100 Al

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Pool Layout

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Core Layout 16 fuel elements –13 standard –3 control Graphite reflector Irradiation Facility

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Conversion Timeline August 2005 – Initial site visit to Purdue by NNSA/GTRI, INL and DOE-NE October 2005 – Initial conversion analyses meeting with ANL October 2005 – Conversion kickoff meeting with INL, Y-12 and SRS staff at Purdue August 2006 – Conversion proposal submitted to USNRC

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Timeline Continued March 2007 – RAI received from USNRC May 2007 – RAI answers back to USNRC May 2007 – Request for Possession Limit Extension July 2007 – Possession Limit Order July 2007 – Fuel Shipped to Purdue August 2007 – NRC issues order to convert

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Timeline Continued Late August – HEU core disassembly, HEU assemblies prepared for transport/final disposition September 2007 – 23 day public comment period expires, start loading fuel on 8 September, 2 elements loaded.

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Timeline continued 18 Sep 2007 – 14 of 16 elements in core Hope for criticality next week. Sometime in the future – Spent HEU shipped Physics measurements need to be completed, and NRC report submitted

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Fuel Comparison Old HEU plate –U-Al alloy –93% U-235 –16.5 g U-235 per plate –1100 Al Clad –0.060 inches thick –124/148 Fueled Plates New HEU plate –U 3 Si 2 -Al –19.75% U-235 –12.5 g U-235 per plate –6061 Al Clad –0.050 inches thick –190/206 Fueled Plates

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR New Plates in Summer Plates, bolted at corners, 12.5 g U-235 per plate loading inch plate-to-plate spacing +/ of 206 plates predicted for target core

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR New Standard Assembly New plate-to plate spacing 0.144±0.015 inches (was ±0.020) New plate-to-wall spacing 0.127±0.008 inches (was ±0.020)

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR New Control Assembly New plate-to plate spacing 0.181±0.015 inches (was ±0.020) New plate-to-wall spacing ±0.008 inches (was ±0.020)

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Lessons Learned Work expands to fill time allotted Murphy’s Law O’Toole’s Commentary

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR

TRTR Conference 2007 Lincoln City, OR Special Thanks Idaho National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory TLI-STS Jim Remlinger, Bill Vernetson