MUSTANG-R BR2 Test Facility for Research Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification

The Belgium Reactor 2 (BR2) has several devices in operation and in preparation that are dedicated to the performance and safety demonstration testing of (research) reactor fuel. In support of the US High Performance Research Reactor (USHPRR) LEU conversion project, a new flexible irradiation apparatus, MUSTANG-R, is being developed in cooperation with INL and ANL to allow for the irradiation testing of a full-size fuel assembly in a BR2 200 mm channel. This device has a flow restriction valve (adjustable orifice) in its inlet structure inside the BR2 upper plenum. This flow restriction valve allows the flow t hrough the device to be adjusted prior to each BR2 cycle in order to correctly mimic typical reactor conditions, to support fuel qualification. The design allows for various materials of the in-core structure of MUSTANG-R, such that appropriate
customer-defined neutronic conditions can be achieved. This in-core structure contains instrumentation for on-line monitoring of neutronic and thermal-hydraulic conditions during irradiation. Two irradiations are planned for the MUSTANG-R apparatus: full-size Design Demonstration Elements (DDEs) for both Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) and the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR), denoted by MITR DDE and NBSR DDE.
Furthermore, the design foresees to irradiate other elements such as a Generic Test Assembly (GTA).