Blackstone MTR Phase III: Characterisation of Graphite Material Property Changes at Heysham 2 and Torness AGR Power Stations

摘要

Project Blackstone is EDF Energy's material test reactor (MTR) experiment that provides information on material property changes due to fast neutron irradiation and radiolytic oxidation ahead of the operating advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs). The project is delivered by NRG (Petten) in the Netherlands and has been underway since around 2006. The primary objective is to produce and characterise gilsocarbon graphite with the high weight loss and fast neutron fluence that are expected at AGR end of life conditions. Phase II was completed in 2015 and the results will be used in analyses that support AGR graphite core safety cases. Heysham 2 and Torness are the youngest AGR stations in the fleet and are expected to operate to a later date than the other AGRs. Only a limited amount of material from these stations was investigated in Blackstone phases I and II. This paper presents EDF Energy's objectives for Blackstone phase III and the intended use of the data to support the operation of these two stations. A summary of the project scope is also included.