Fuel Core Fabrication for the Royal Military College of Canada SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor

Abstract

The Safe LOW-POwer Kritical Experiment (SLOWPOKE) reactor at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) has been operating since 1985. To permit continued use of this educational and research tool, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) were contracted in June 2019 to replace the reactor’s original fuel load. The project covered a wide range of activities including fabrication of a new core, removal of the spent core, replacement and commissioning of the new core. The reactor successfully returned to service in September 2021 after the new core reached criticality. The core fabrication work, particularly the conversion from low-enriched uranium (LEU) metal to sintered UO₂ pellets, is detailed in this paper.