The world's most dynamic and flexible transient test reactor is available for research and demonstration activities. The Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility provides a transformational research platform that links science and engineering capabilities for the advancement of fundamental science and nuclear technology. TREAT will directly couple the response of material systems to complex environments experienced under a variety of operational and off-normal transient events anticipated in nuclear reactors. From scientific discovery to technology development and deployment, TREAT will enable the advancement of nuclear material science and engineering required to optimize operation of the existing light water reactor fleet, as well as the advanced reactors of the future.
TREAT is a highly capable test reactor; its unique design offers real-time monitoring of the fuel or materials behavior under postulated reactor accident conditions. This allows scientists to determine the appropriate safe limits for the fuels and materials in nuclear power reactors. TREAT's simple, self-limiting, air-cooled design can safely accommodate multi-pin test assemblies, fostering the study of fuel melting, metal-liquid reactions, and overheated fuel and coolant interactions, as well as the transient behavior of fuels for high-temperature system applications. It also allows for the detailed monitoring of the specimens during a test via the hodoscope, a system that detects fast neutrons and enables real-time evaluation of the fuel behavior within a test sample.
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