ROBIN: ROtating Basket with Instrumented Needles

ROBIN stands for ROtating Basket with Instrumented Needles. The aim of the facility is to irradiate needles loaded with specimens (typically tensile or mini-charpy) in a GDG facility; GDG is a large thimble that is loaded in the BR2, that is open to the reactor pool allowing devices to be loaded during reactor operation.

ROBIN can contain up to nine needles with 11 mm Outside Diameter (OD) similar to the ones that are loaded in CALLISTO. In addition, an instrumented needle containing, for example, thermocouples or a gamma-thermometer or a SPND or a fission chamber, can be loaded into ROBIN to get on-line measurements in real time.

To compensate for the fast flux radial gradient through the selected irradiation position, this basket is designed to rotate during irradiation, leading to the same dose in all the specimens (at the same level in the core) of the 9 needles. The needles internal part design (gas gap between the needle internal surface and matrix containing the specimen outer surface) determines the specimen irradiation temperature.
The irradiation temperature can be measured inside dummy specimens loaded in the basket central position. This irradiation temperature can be controlled within a certain range by adjusting the basket cooling flow. The needles have to be designed on the basis of 90°C external surface temperature. This temperature could be adjusted with the cooling between 65 and 120°C (boiling temperature).
The maximum fast neutron flux (E > 1 MeV) achievable in the facility will be around 3 x 10 ¹³ n .cm ² s ^-1 at the basket central position.

Pictures of the ROBIN experimental device without needles

For further information please contact:

Dekeyser Jean