The TAPIRO as a fast research reactor for Generation IV technologies

TAPIRO is a 5kW fast neutron source operating at the ENEA CASACCIA Research Center since 1971 in Italy. The reactor, included in the Mediterranean Research Reactor Network (MRRN) promoted by IAEA for maximize the utilization and the collaborations of RRs in the Mediterranean region, is composed by a high-enriched core made of Uranium-Molybdenum alloy cooled by He and surrounded by a copper reflector and a large concrete biological shield. A large experimental cavity, labeled thermal column, is suitable for the installation of experimental assemblies for any research purpose. Aim of this paper is to describe the main feature of TAPIRO fast neutron research reactor and analyze, by deterministic (ERANOS) and probabilistic (MCNP) simulation codes, the feasibility of an experimental campaign of neutron propagation in lead, using the thermal column of the TAPIRO reactor. Measurements of neutron spectra or reaction rates evaluations, well correlated to integral parameters of the reference reactor, can be considered as a valuable basis for the design of next generation of LFR. In this concern, a key factor is the correlation coefficient between integral parameters (for example vacuum effect and reaction rates), evaluated in different cores, is a measure of the impact of the physical characteristics of the systems on the assessment of such integral quantities. The results obtained in this preliminary study are encouraging since they indicate a significant degree of correlation between the quantities considered in TAPIRO and in the reference system taken into account