The University of Wisconsin Nuclear Reactor (UWNR) continued to partner with Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) to measure energy deposition in various materials important in the design of reactor systems to validate their MC21 Monte Carlo (MC) modeling code. Previous work used differential calorimeters to measure the total heating rate in the various materials. This year, custom manufactured ion chambers of the various materials measured kerma rates directly and measured the neutron to gamma ratio. In July 2017 the reactor dedicated 1.99 MW-hr to the experiment.
The UWNR also participated in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Integrated Research Project (IRP-NE) in the area of Advanced Instrumentation for Transient Reactor Testing to support the TREAT restart program. Specifically the program developed innovative measurement diagnostics for real-time, in-situ monitoring in support of transient reactor testing. These novel instrumentation measurement methods were tested in the reactor environment using the UWNR. In August 2017 the reactor dedicated 2.29 MW-hr to the experiment.