Feasibility study of the University of Utah TRIGA reactor power upgrade in respect to control rod system

he objectives of this thesis are twofold: to determine the highest achievable power levels of the current University of Utah TRIG Reactor (UUTR) core configuration with the existing three control rods, and to design the core for higher reactor power by optimizing the control rod worth. For the current core configuration, the maximum reactor power, eigenvalue keff, shutdown margin, and excess reactivity have been measured and calculated. These calculated estimates resulted from thermal power calibrations, and the control rod worth measurements at various power levels. The results were then used as a benchmark to verify the MCNP5 core simulations for the current core and then to design a core for higher reactor power. This study showed that the maximum achievable power with the current core configuration and control rod system is 150kW, which is 50kW higher than the licensed power of the UUTR. The maximum achievable UUTR core power with the existing fuel is determined by optimizing the core configuration and control rod worth, showing that a power upgrade of 500 kW is achievable. However, it requires a new control rod system consisting of a total of four control rods. The cost of such an upgrade is...