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NEA-1660 IRPHE-SNEAK.
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NEA-1660 IRPHE-SNEAK.

IRPHE-SNEAK, KFK SNEAK Fast Reactor Experiments, Primary Documentation

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1. NAME OR DESIGNATION:  IRPHE-SNEAK.
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2. COMPUTERS

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Program name Package id Status Status date
IRPHE-SNEAK NEA-1660/06 Arrived 18-JUN-2009

Machines used:

Package ID Orig. computer Test computer
NEA-1660/06 Many Computers
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3. DESCRIPTION

A vast program of fast reactor experiments was  carried out at the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KFK), now renamed Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) over a long period that terminated at the end of the Eighties. The major research efforts were carried out at the Schnelle Null-Energie-Anordnung Karlsruhe (SNEAK), (i.e. Fast Zero-Power Facility Karlsruhe).
  
The construction of SNEAK started in 1965 and was completed in the summer of 1966.  SNEAK is a vertical assembly, with the fuel elements attached to a carrying plate. Both vertical and horizontal channels can be built. The two horizontal channels serve  for the material replacement experiments, achieved through an automatised sample changing device for measuring transverses with detectors or material samples and for a pulsed neutron source. The four vertical channels placed near the centre of the fissile region were  designed for the installation of a pile oscillator. A circuit heated by gas served for Doppler experiments. The reactor was shut down in 1985.
  
For SNEAK, about 600 kg of plutonium were processed to mixed oxide (MOX) fuel pellets starting in 1965.
  
This effort was carried out in support of the German fast reactor programme that led to the construction of the KNK-II facility. The KNK Compact Sodium Cooled Nuclear Reactor Facility was a 20 MWe experimental nuclear power plant erected on the premises of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. This provided valuable information for the construction of the Kalkar fast breeder reactor, completed in 1991. This reactor was never loaded with fuel and the German fast reactor programme was later abandoned.
  
The wealth of information produced in the SNEAK Facility covers the following measurement campaigns in different core configurations:
  
  
  
Assembly (Year)   Features
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  1      1966/67
                  Task: check of assemblyand equipment
                  Special Features: mock-up of ZPR-3, Assembly 41
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, Al, steel
  3A     1967
                  Task: simulation of steam cooled FBR
                  Special Features: simulation of H2O by
                  polyethylene foils
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, CH2, steel, Al,
                  Al2O3
  3B     1968
                  Task: as 3A
                  Special Features: as 3A, central Pu-fuelled zone
                  Main Constituents: as 3A, in addition PuO2/UO2
  4      1968/69
                  Task: mock-up of KNK-II
                  Main Constituents: PuO2, PuO2/UO2, 235U, 238U,
                  steel, Al
  5      1969
                  Task: physics investigations: neutron balance
                  Special Features: central k8 = 1 zone
                  Main Constituents: k8-zone PuO2/UO2, 238U, C
                  driver 235U, 238U, C, Al, H
  2A     1969
                  Task: simulation of a sodium-cooled FBR
                  Special Features: uranium core, 2 enrichment zones
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, steel, Na, Na2CO3
  2B     1969
                  Task: as 2A
                  Special Features: as 2A, sector Pu-fuelled
                  Main Constituents: as 2A, in addition PuO2/UO2,
                  Fe2O3
  2C     1969
                  Task: as 2A
                  Special Features: as 2B, additional MASURCA-Pu
                  Main Constituents: as 2B,
                  Pu-metal in MASURCA-Pu-pins
  6A     1970
                  Task: as 2A
                  Special Features: central zone PuO2/UO2,
                  additional MASURCA-Pu
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, 235U, 238U, steel,
                  Na, Al, Fe2O3, Pu-metal
  6B     1970
                  Task: as 2A
                  Special Features: As 6A, but without MASURCA-Pu
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, 235U, 238U, steel,
                  Na, Al, Fe2O3
  6D     1970
                  Task: as 2A
                  Special Features: central zone MASURCA-Pu,
                  additional SNEAK-PuO2/UO2
                  Main Constituents: as 6A
  7A     1970/71
                  Task: basic physics
                  Special Features: 1-zone-core
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, graphite
  7B     1971
                  Task: as 7A
                  Special Features: as 7A
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, UO2
  8      1971
                  Task: k8 = 1 (SCHERZO)
                  Special Features: central k8 = 1 zone, as ZEBRA,
                  ERMINE, HARMONIE
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, graphite in driver
  9B     1972
                  Task: Mock-up of SNR 300
                  Special Features: large central zone,
                  composition of SNR 300
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, 235U, 238U, Na,
                  Na2CO3, graphite
  9A     1972/73
                  Task: as 9B
                  Special Features: simulation of SNR geometry,
                  U-fuel, SNR control rods 9A-0 without control rods
                  9A-1 withdrawn control rods 9A-2 inserted control
                  rods
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, Na, Na2CO3,
                  graphite
  9C-1   1973/74
                  Task: as 9B, also basic physics
                  Special Features: 1-zone U core,
                  progressive Pu for U substitution
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, steel, Na, Na2CO3,
                  graphite
  9C-2   1974/75
                  Task: as 9C1
                  Special Features: 1-zone Pu core
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, Na
  10     1975/76
                  Task: Simulation of properties of large FBRs
                  Special Features: compact core (no Na, low radial
                  leakage) different control rod patterns in 10A/B/C
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, UO2, Al2O3,
                  graphite
  11     1977/79
                  Task: Mock-up of KNK-II (incl. details)
                  Special Features: test region fuelled with
                  carbide, Mark IA, Mark II fuel (11A/B/C)
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2, 235U, 238U, steel,
                  Na, PuO2, Na2CO3, CH2
  12A    1980/82
                  Task: deformed cores
                  Special Features: 1-zone U core
                  Main Constituents: 235U, 238U, UO2, Na
  12B    1983/84
                  Task: as 12A
                  Special Features: central zone fuelled with
                  PuO2/UO2 pin bundles
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2 pins and plates, UO2,
                  235U, 238U, steel
  12F    1984
                  Task: HCLWR studies
                  Special Features: central zone as 12B, moderated
                  with C8H8 plates, steel buffer
                  Main Constituents: PuO2/UO2 pins, C8H8, steel in
                  test zone, driver as 12B
  12C    1984/85
                  Task: deformed cores and control rod studies
                  Special Features: as 12B, central zone loaded
                  with plates
                  Main Constituents: as 12B, without plates
  
The primary Documents have been assembled in this package within the IRPhE Project (International Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments Project) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency.
  
The numerical values were compiled and assembled as one chapter in the SNEDAX database. These data have also been released to the project.
  
This information was released by staff of the FZR (E. Kiefhaber, G. Heusener, and R. Bohme) and is made available to inernational programmes through OECD/NEA.
NEA-1660/06
To the sixth edition two safety reports "Sicherheitsbericht fuer Schnelle Null-Energie-Anordnung Karlsruhe, SNEAK - Band I and II" have been added.
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9. STATUS
Package ID Status date Status
NEA-1660/06 18-JUN-2009 Masterfiled restricted
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10. REFERENCES

- P. Engelmann , R. Bohme , G. Bruhn, R. Durand-Smet, W.K. Foell,
  F.W.A. Habermann, R. Schroder, D. Wintzer:
  Initial Experiments in the Karlsruhe Fast Critical Facility,
  SNEAK KFK-472, 10/01/1966
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11. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:  Requires Microsoft Word and Acrobat Reader.
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12. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE(S) USED
No specified programming language
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15. NAME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS

E. Kiefhaber, G. Heusener, and R. Bohme
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
Postfach 3640
D-76021 KARLSRUHE
Germany
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16. MATERIAL AVAILABLE
NEA-1660/06
Primary Documentation, Characterisation of Assemblies (PDF format)
Safety report
Set of pictures
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17. CATEGORIES
  • Y. Integral Experiments Data, Databases, Benchmarks

Keywords: experiment, fast reactors.