Preparation of irradiation of aggregate samples in research reactor LVR-15.

This paper presents the description of the preparation of aggregate irradiation experiment including the choice of sample types and preliminary numerical prediction of aggregate RIVE and damage under defined conditions for the research reactor LVR-15. Ten different samples from four countries were selected for the experimental investigation. The preliminary numerical analysis was performed for granite as the aggregate with the highest radiation-induced volumetric expansion (RIVE). Based on the prediction, the highest RIVE of 4.54 % at high-dose neutron fluence (0.585·1020 n/cm2, with energy E>10 keV) is expected. Thus, taking into account the sample size, the inner diameter of the irradiated capsule should be about 11 mm. The aggregate samples with the highest RIVE (granite) are expected to be damaged significantly even after irradiation to low-dose neutron fluence (0.208·1020 n/cm2, with energy E>10 keV) which will be captured during the post-irradiation examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]