Feasibility study for Tehran Research Reactor power upgrading

The present work is concerned with a power upgrading study of Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). The upgrading study is aimed at investigating the possibility of raising power of the TRR from the current level of 5 MW_th to a higher level without violating the original thermal-hydraulic safety criteria. The existing core, comprising 22 standard fuel elements and five control fuel elements, is used for the analyses. Different reactor thermal powers (5–11 MW) and different core coolant flow rates (500–921 m³/h) are considered. It is shown that, for the present core, this goal could be achieved safely by gradually opening the butterfly control valve until the desired coolant flow rate is reached. The TRR power could be upgraded up to around 7.5 MW_th with the total power peaking factor maintained at less than or equal to 3.0.