TRIGA

TRIGA

[


thumb|230px|Picture_of_a_TRIGA_reactor_core._Notice_the_glow_caused_by_Cherenkov radiation.] TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics of the USA. TRIGA is an acronym of "Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics". The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.

Design

TRIGA is a pool-type reactor that can be installed without a containment building, and is designed for use by scientific institutions and universities for purposes such as undergraduate and graduate education, private commercial research, non-destructive testing and isotope production.

The TRIGA reactor uses uranium-zirconium-hydride (UZrH) fuel, which has a large, prompt negative thermal coefficient of reactivity, meaning that as the temperature of the core increases, the reactivity rapidly decreases — so it is highly unlikely, though not impossible for a meltdown to occur. TRIGA was originally designed to be fuelled with highly enriched uranium, but in 1978 the U.S. Department of Energy launched its Reduced Enrichment for Research Test Reactors program, which promoted reactor conversion to low-enriched uranium fuel. [ [http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/frrsnf.shtml NA-25 Radiological Threat Reduction Program ] ]

History

The TRIGA was developed to be a reactor that, in the words of Frederic de Hoffmann, head of General Atomics, was designed to be "safe even in the hands of a young graduate student." [ Teller, "Memoirs", p. 423.] Edward Teller headed a group of young nuclear physicists in San Diego in the summer of 1956 to design a reactor which could not, by its design, suffer from a meltdown. The design was largely the suggestion of Freeman Dyson. The prototype for the TRIGA nuclear reactor (TRIGA Mark I) was commissioned on 3 May 1958 in San Diego and operated until shut down in 1997. It has been designated as a nuclear historic landmark by the American Nuclear Society.

Mark II, Mark III and other variants of the TRIGA design have subsequently been produced, and a total of 35 TRIGA reactors have been installed at locations across the USA. A further 35 reactors have been installed in other countries. Many of these installations were prompted by US President Eisenhower's 1953 policy of "Atoms for Peace" which sought to extend access to nuclear physics to countries in the American sphere of influence. Consequently, TRIGA reactors can be found in such diverse locations as Colombia, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Congo, Brazil, Germany, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Mexico and Indonesia.

TRIGA International, a joint venture between General Atomics and CERCA — a subsidiary of AREVA of France — was established in 1996. Since then TRIGA fuel assemblies have been manufactured at CERCA's plant in Romans-sur-Isère, France.

New TRIGA installations by General Atomics are underway in Morocco, Thailand and Romania.

Some of the main competitors to General Atomics in the supply of research reactors are Framatome of France, Siemens AG of Germany and INVAP of Argentina.

ee also

* List of nuclear reactors

References

*Edward Teller, "Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics" (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001).

Notes

External links

* [http://triga.ga.com/ General Atomics official TRIGA website]
* [http://triga.ga.com/45years.html TRIGA history webpage]


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  • TRIGA — Heroum in bello vehiculum, post bigas fuit: qui duobus subiugis equis adnectebant vinculô seu lorô tertium extra currum, quem παρῄορον dicebant: Hesychius, παρῄορος ἵππος ὁ εντὸς ἃρματος τρέχων? item σειραῖον, Dionysius Halicarn. l. 7. sub fin.… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • triga — (Del lat. triga, ae). 1. f. Carro de tres caballos. 2. Conjunto de tres caballos de frente que tiran de un carro …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Triga — (lat.), ein Dreigespann. Auf einem solchen fuhren nach der Sage der Alten die unterirdischen Götter, weil sie Menschen von allen drei Lebensaltern von der Erde in die Unterwelt hinabholten …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Triga — (lat.), Dreigespann; vgl. Biga u. Quadriga …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Triga — Triga, dreispännige Streitwagen der antiken Zeit, die in bronzener Nachbildung zumeist Triumphbögen und andre Bauten bekrönten (vgl. Quadriga) …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Triga — (lat.), Dreigespann …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Triga — Triga, lat., Dreigespann …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • triga — s. f. 1. Pressa; diligência; afã. 2.  [Antigo] Carro puxado por três cavalos de frente. • adj. f. 3.  [Portugal: Beira, Trás os Montes] Designativo da farinha de trigo …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • TRIGA — Núcleo del reactor TRIGA. TRIGA es un tipo de pequeño reactor nuclear diseñado y fabricado por General Atomics de Estados Unidos. TRIGA es el acrónimo de Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics . El equipo de diseño del TRIGA fue dirigido… …   Wikipedia Español

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