The Research and Test Reactor (RTR) manufacturing operation produces aluminum clad fuel plates that are assembled into "box type" elements that are used in reactors like the Advanced Test Reactor, University of Missouri, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These fuel plates and elements are stored in both horizontal and vertical arrangements during the manufacturing process. Since the presence of water is so important to criticality safety of the operations, a study was undertaken to establish credible levels of water moderation. At the NCSD 2013 Topical meeting, credible levels of interspersed water moderation from multiple sources including firefighting, steam and rain were presented. This covered the initial portions of the research. Subsequent research was conducted on water films resulting from these water sources. This phase of the research involved the formation of water films. These can form from condensation, water sprays or immersion. The thickness of the water films from these sources ranged from 0.04 cm to 0.30 cm for vertical fuel plates. Studies were also conducted on horizontal plates, stacks of plates and assembled elements. For fuel plates, the films ranged from essentially zero for stacked plates to 0.25 cm. For an element, there was sufficient adhesion that all of the channels were filled.
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