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SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

Radiation Facilities

Nuclear facilities at Sandia National Laboratories are used in advanced Nuclear Technologies, Radiation Effects, and Radioisotope production research. Radiation facilities include:

The Gamma Irradiation Facility(GIF) provides a single structure for performing a wide diversity of gamma irradiation experiments.

The Radiation Metrology Laboratory (RML) provides radiation measurement services to Sandia's reactors, isotopic sources, and accelerator facilities.

The (HCF) is located in TA-V, in the basement of Building 6580. It consists of the Hot Cell itself, which contains the steel confinement boxes; the glove box laboratory; ancillary analytical equipment; support areas; and fissile- and radioactive-material storage areas. The HCF primarily conducts and supports research and development activities. Therefore, the types and quantities of materials handled, the operations carried out, and the types and quantities of wastes produced vary from project to project. In addition to routine research support operations, the building is planned to support medical isotope production (Mo-99) in the near future. The Hot Cell contains three steel confinement boxes and a shielded support area, and provides SNL/NM with an onsite capability for working with experiments and materials containing up to a nominal maximum of 6000 Ci of fission products and 500 Ci of plutonium or other fissile material. This facility is designed to permit safe handling and experimentation with SNM, both irradiated and non-irradiated. Research programs at SNL/NM--material studies, fuel studies, and safety studies--require that experiments containing radioactive materials be assembled and/or disassembled, samples prepared, and microscopic and chemical analyses performed. This facility was privatized in 1996.It provides full capability to handle and analyze radioactive material.

The Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR), located in TA-V, is a pool-type reactor capable of both pulsed and steady state operation, and tailored transient rod withdrawal. Its primary function is to test electronics, materials, and fissile components. It is used to perform in-pile experiments for radiation effects, reactor development and safety experiments.

The ACRR has been proposed for use in future medical isotope production (Mo-99). The ACRR has been in operation since 1978, performing 6000 operations without incident. The reactor is operated in two basic modes: 1) short duration steady-state power (2 megawatts maximum), and 2) fast pulses. Typically, the maximum yield for pulse operations is in the range of 300 megajoules. The reactor is designed to produce a high yield of epithermal neutrons in the central radiation cavity over a very short time range.

Also housed in this building is the OGIF, which consists of two adjoining irradiation cells. The sources provide a variety of radioactive source geometries for irradiating experiments. The OGIF contains approximately 150,000 Ci of Co-60 and is used mainly for radiation certification of satellites and weapons systems, electronic components, dosimetry calibration, and radiation damage to materials studies.

This facility was transitioned to the Office of Nuclear Energy. In 2003, the ACRR was upgraded. In July 2004, it entered a maintenance outage. The NNSA authorized it to resume in May 2005 after upgrades. It is used in the arming, fuzing and firing system used in the W76-1 Life Extension Program.

This facility was located in TA-V. The SPR II and SPR III reactors provided a unique, near- fission-spectrum radiation environment in which to test a wide variety of technologies that support defense and non-defense activities. The primary mission of the facility was to meet high neutron fluency or pulsed high dose requirements in the testing of electronic subsystems and components.

Two fast burst reactors were operated at the SPR facility. The reactors were similar in design, construction, and operation, and were designated SPR II and SPR III. The operational characteristics and modes of operation of the two reactors were essentially the same, the principal difference being that SPR III had a larger central irradiation cavity than SPR II. SPR II had been operational since 1966 and has performed over 8,000 operations; SPR III had been operational since 1975, performing over 10,000 operations with-out incident. The reactors were operated in two basic modes: 1) short duration steady state at low power (a few kilowatts), and 2) fast pulses. Typically, the maximum yield for pulse operations is in the range of 6-8 megajoules. The reactors were designed to be operated from the same reactor control console. With only one control console, only one reactor could be operated at any one time. The nonoperational reactor was placed in temporary storage when not in use. In addition to routine research, the SPRs were used to support work-for-others activities.

SPR III provided intense neutron bursts for radiation effects testing of materials and electronics. SPR III was in storage for five and a half years. It was then used from January 2005 until September 2006 in critical survivability testing in the W-76 Life Extension Program. It was then sent to the Nevada Test Site.