Initially aimed at fuels irradiations, the testing program in EBR-II eventually evolved to support assessment of safety performance with emphasis on inherent and passive safety. The transient testing program started with mild steady-state natural circulation tests and culminated with several unprotected transients (no scram). These collective efforts were aimed at understanding EBR-II response to a wide variety of upset conditions and validating computer codes for application to new plant designs. Initial emphasis was on phenomena for the reactor and primary heat transport system and later shifted in focus to whole-plant dynamic behavior. Prior to the transient testing program, the plant instrumentation was upgraded so that flow rates and temperatures in the primary, secondary, and steam systems could be measured and collected by a recently procured data acquisition system. Additional control system functions were added to facilitate the whole-plant dynamic testing.
The EBR-II Transient Test Database is an archive of data and documents describing transient tests performed in the EBR-II reactor. Over 80 transient tests conducted from 1984-1987 can be arranged into several categories:
Among them, the landmark inherent safety demonstration test (SHRT-45R) conducted on April 3, 1986 demonstrated EBR-II's potential to survive a station blackout without scram without core damage. Initiated from full-power and full-flow conditions, this test involved simultaneous trip of all pumps (all primary pumps, intermediate loop pumps, and feedwater pumps) with only an auxiliary sodium coolant pump on battery power remaining functional. The reactor control system was manipulated to avoid scram and the reactor power changed only in response to the reactivity feedbacks. The pump coast-down without scram caused reactor core temperatures to rise, introducing net negative reactivity reducing reactor power to decay heat level. The data acquisition system records and post-transient examinations did not indicate any fuel failure.
The database is based on the original binary files of measured instrument data from the original IBM mainframe cartridge tapes, collected between 1984 and 1987 using the data acquisition system. This database takes advantage of Earl Feldman and Pat Garner's meticulous work and merely provides a web interface for online access to data and relevant documents.
Note: Useful information about the EBR-II reactor and its intended purpose can be found in the EBR-II, An Integrated Experimental Fast Reactor Nuclear Power Station.
To learn about and access Argonne's other Fast Reactor Databases, please visit https://frdb.ne.anl.gov.
If you have difficulties in opening the binary files (e.g. Word documents, spreadsheets, or pdf files) with your browser, use the right mouse button and select the "save link as..." or "save target as..." option to save the file on your computer.