ColdneutronsourceatKAERI,KoreaOriginalResearchArticle

TheHANARO(High-fluxAdvanceNeutronApplicationReactOr),anopentankinapooltypemulti-purposeresearchreactor,generatingahighneutronflux(fast:2.1×1014n/cm2/s,thermalflux:5×1014n/cm2/s)hasbeenoperatingat30MWthsinceitsfirstcriticalityinFebruary1995.TheHANAROprovidesneutronstovariousutilizationandresearchgroupsforglobalcompetition.Basedontheworld-widetrendforanavailabilityofcoldneutronsandthenationaldemandfortakingfulladvantageofsuchastrongneutronsource,Koreangovernmentdecidedtocommencewiththecoldneutronsource(CNS)projectattheHANAROon2003.TheHANAROwillbeequippedwithaverticalliquidhydrogen-moderatedCNSwithinthenext3years.Amoderatorcell,madeof1mmthicknessofaluminium6061-T6,whoseshapeisadoublecylindertypeandisconnectedtoaheatexchanger,establishingtwophaseflowbyanaturalconvection.Thesecomponentsarecontainedinthevacuumchamber.Thecoldneutronfluxwillbe3.9×109n/cm2/satthereactorfaceandapproximately8.4×108n/cm2/satthelocationoftheinstruments.ThispaperpresentsthecurrentstatusandfutureprospectoftheCNSprojectdrivenbyKAERI,Korea.