A commissioning rod assembly for the Jamaican SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor

Within the framework of the Material Management and Minimization Conversion Program of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, the Argonne National Laboratory approved the manufacturing of a Jamaica's SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor (JM-1) mock-up, reactor removal tools, and commissioning rods by Polytechnique Montreal. This mock-up reactor was then used to practice dry runs of the JM-1 high enriched uranium core removal activities and fresh low enriched uranium core loading operations of the JM-1 reactor conversion. One of the most crucial elements in the commissioning of a new reactor core is the commissioning rod assembly. Hence, this paper presents the design, the fabrication, the calibration, and the dry runs performed at Polytechnique Montreal with commissioning rod assembly. The work was then resumed at Jamaica's International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences.