The team has created a system to accurately adjust the height of a suspended LND 30573 fission detector within an empty fuel pin along the active length of the reactor fuel pins.This new method will collect data in real time at steady-state power and directly reflect the steady state neutron flux. The system consists of a gear and chain mechanism with an attached guidewire to raise the detector through the length of the empty fuel pin. The gear and chain are driven by a stepper motor hooked up to an arduino. The operator inputs the desired height into the computer in the control room, and the arduino translates that height into a number of steps for the motor to turn. The materials chosen for the design were analyzed to withstand mechanical accident scenarios using stress-strain analysis and Failure is Predicted to Occur If (F.I.P.T.O.I.) analysis. All procedures developed were required to meet 10 CFR 50.59 standards in addition to the approval of the Operations Supervisor.
Team: Emily Frantz, Rebecca Gazda, Connor LaFountain, Sean Moran, Christopher Skelton
Project Advisor: Dr. Jason Thompson