Preliminary Test Results for Post Irradiation Examination on the HTTR Fuel

The future post-irradiation program for the first-loading fuel of the HTTR is scheduled using the HTTR fuel handling facilities and the Hot Laboratory in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR) to confirm its irradiation resistance and to obtain data on its irradiation characteristics in the core. This report describes the preliminary test results and the future plan for a post-irradiation examination for the HTTR fuel. In the preliminary test, fuel compacts made with the same SiC-coated fuel particle as the first loading fuel were used. In the preliminary test, dimension, weight, fuel failure fraction, and burnup were measured, and X-ray radiograph, SEM, and EPMA observations were carried out. Finally, it was confirmed that the first-loading fuel of the HTTR showed good quality under an irradiation condition. The future plan for the post-irradiation tests was described to confirm its irradiation performance and to obtain data on its irradiation characteristics in the HTTR core.     

Transient Elongation of a Fresh Fuel Rod under Reactivity Initiated Accident Conditions

In-pile experiments of fresh fuel rods under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions have been performed in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in order to understand the basic pellet cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) behavior. Rapid fuel pellet expansion due to a power excursion would cause radial and longitudinal deformation of the cladding. This PCMI could be one of the possible incipient failure modes of an embrittled cladding of a high burnup fuel under the RIA conditions.

Basic PCMI behavior was studied by measuring cladding deformation of a fresh fuel rod without complicated irradiation effects. The transient elongation measurements of the fuel with two kinds of gap width indicated not only PCMI-induced cladding elongation, but also reduction of the pellet stack displacement by the cladding constraint. In the tests under a high-pressure and high-temperature condition simulating an operation condition of BWRs, additional ridge-type cladding deformation was generated due to the axial collapse of the cladding. A preliminary analysis for interpretation of the tests was made using a computer code for the transient analysis of fuel rods, FRAP-T6.     

高燃耗下裂变气体释放行为研究与程序校验

采用燃料棒性能分析程序COPERNIC,针对哈尔登（Halden）测试燃料组件 （IFA）519.9 DK 辐照试验燃料棒辐照试验进行了计算分析,研究了高燃耗下裂变气体释放行为,并与试验数据进行了对比验证。结果表明,在燃耗达到约100 GW?d/t(U)的辐照过程中,该程序对裂变气体释放率的预测值与试验测量结果符合较好;程序未精确预测芯块孔隙率在高燃耗“边缘结构”内的演化过程,但不影响其对燃料棒辐照综合性能分析的准确性和合理性。      

小批量国产自主化燃料组件入堆辐照策略研究

为实现第三代中国燃料组件（CF3）的小批量应用,研究了方家山核电厂2号机组第4循环到第7循环的燃料管理策略。在综合考虑核电厂运行经济性、安全性和CF3小批量应用的辐照考验要求的基础上,完成了CF3小批量辐照的燃料管理方案。为了进一步提高CF3的最大卸料燃耗,进行了燃耗达到55000?MW·d/t(U)的可行性分析。研究表明,CF3小批量辐照的燃料管理方案满足核电厂运行的安全性和经济性,达到了CF3小批量应用的辐照考验要求,如果后续调整该燃料管理方案的第3循环的堆芯装载,可以实现CF3的燃耗达到55000?MW·d/t(U)。      

Characterization of High Burnup Fuel for Safety Related Fuel Testing

Fuel Assemblies designed and fabricated by Westinghouse Electric Sweden (WSE) to reach high burnup have been operated in the Leibstadt nuclear power plant (KKL) for seven cycles attaining an assembly average burnup above 60 MWd/kgU. The irradiation conditions in KKL featured linear heat generation rates ranging from 250 W/cm early in life down to 100W/cm in the last cycle and normal water chemistry with zinc injection. Selected rods have been extracted at both intermediate and final irradiation stages and hot cell examinations have been carried out. The results show that the fuel is well suited for high burnup applications and rod segments have been provided to the OECD Halden Reactor Program, the OECD Studsvik Cladding Integrity Program and the Japanese ALPS program for dedicated high burnup tests with regard to fission as release and cladding lift-off as well as behavior under power transient, RIA and LOCA.     

A measurement of the irradiation-induced creep of mixed carbide nuclear fuel

In the BR 2 reacior at Mol, Belgium, a measurement of the irradiation induced creep of mixed carbide nuclear fuel up to high burnup was carried out The dependence upon applied stress and burnup of 95% dense (U, Pu) C was measured within a temperature range between 500 and 720°C and at fission rates between 1.0−1.5 × 10¹⁴ f/cm³ s. The used irradiation device was a Confluent-type capsule that allowed a variation of stress as well as temperature during irradiation. The length changes of the fuel specimen were determined by means of the microwave cavity resonance method. The obtained creep rates are proportional to stress and burnup-independent. The irradiation creep rates are about one order of magnitude below those of mixed oxide fuel. The fission product swelling rate increased with burnup form initially 1.2 to 3.0 vol% per % burnup. At stress changes the fuel showed a transient swelling up to 0.2 vol%. The theoretical background of carbide irradiation creep is briefly discussed.     

Influence of Cladding-Peripheral Hydride on Mechanical Fuel Failure under Reactivity-Initiated Accident Conditions

In order to investigate the influence of hydrogen embrittlement on fuel failure under reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) conditions, pulse irradiation experiments were performed with unirradiated fuel rods at the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR). Fresh cladding was pre-hydrided so that the other factors of cladding degradation, such as irradiation damage and oxidation, were excluded. Hydride clusters are circumferentially oriented and localized in the cladding periphery in order to simulate ‘hydride rim’ which is formed in high burnup PWR cladding. The present study demonstrated hydride-assisted pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) failure which has been observed in high burnup fuel experiments. The fuel enthalpy at failure was lower when the cladding had a thicker hydride rim where surface cracks were easily generated. It indicates that the failure limit is highly correlated with the stress intensity factor assuming that the crack depth is equivalent to the hydride rim thickness. Hence, we conclude that hydride rim formation is the primary factor of decreasing the failure limit for high burnup fuels. Based on the experimental results together with an analysis on cladding mechanical state during PCMI, the present study suggests a process of through-wall crack generation which is originated with brittle cracking within the hydride rim.     

MARGARET: A comprehensive code for the description of fission gas behavior

The relevant phenomena concerning stable-fission gas behavior in nuclear fuels are combined in a single model: MARGARET. This same tool can be used for base irradiations up to high burnup, ramp tests and annealing tests. The representation of intragranular or intergranular bubbles and fabrication pores is highly mechanistic. The partition of fission gas between these cavities and dissolved in the solid permits determination of swelling of the fuel. The released gas is obtained by difference between the created and retained gas in the fuel. The model has been validated against base irradiations, ramps and annealing tests of UO₂ fuel. The article presents the complete equations of the model in the base irradiation condition (Part I), followed by a detailed analysis of the behavior of a fuel irradiated up to 61 GWd/tU, extensively examined after irradiation (Part II). Part III presents the specific additional terms used for the calculation of transient and annealing conditions.     

燃料热导率降级对CAP1000大破口失水事故的影响分析

在高燃耗情况下,燃料芯块的热导率随燃耗降低,该现象被称之为热导率降级(TCD)现象。TCD现象影响失水事故(LOCA)前稳态工况的燃料平均温度和燃料储能,进而影响大破口LOCA过程中的包壳峰值温度(PCT)。本研究采用大破口LOCA分析程序WCOBRA/TRAC对CAP1000冷段双端剪切断裂事故进行了不同燃耗的敏感性分析,并获得了不同工况下的PCT。分析中采用美国核燃料研究所(NFI)修正的TCD模型对降级后的燃料热导率进行模拟,同时考虑了燃耗大于30GW·d/tU后FQ和FΔh峰值因子的降低。敏感性分析表明,考虑TCD和峰值因子降低的影响,PCT极限工况不再出现在低燃耗区间,而出现在燃耗为29GW·d/tU附近。与其他燃耗水平相比,该燃耗点的PCT第1峰值和第2峰值均处于最高水平。本研究结果可为高燃耗情况下非能动电厂大破口LOCA的分析评估提供参考。     

Improved-EDC tests on the Zircaloy-4 cladding tube with an outer surface pre-crack

In order to investigate the failure behavior of fuel cladding under a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) condition, biaxial stress tests on unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding tube with an outer surface pre-crack were carried out under room temperature conditions by using an improved Expansion-Due-to-Compression (improved-EDC) test method which was developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The specimens with an outer surface pre-crack were prepared by using Rolling-After-Grooving (RAG) method. In each test, a constant longitudinal tensile load of 0, 5.0 or 10.0 kN was applied along the axial direction of specimen, respectively. All specimens failed during the tests, and the morphology at the failure opening of the specimens was similar to that observed in the result of post-irradiation examinations of high burnup fuel which failed during a pulse irradiation experiment. The longitudinal strain (?_tz) at failure clearly increased with increasing longitudinal tensile loads and the circumferential strain (?_t?) at failure significantly decreased in the case of 5.0 and 10.0 kN tests, compared with the case of 0 kN tests. From these tests, the data of cladding failure were obtained in the range of strain ratio (?_tz/?_t?) between about ?0.6 and 0.7: this range of strain ratio covers the range between about 0.0 and 0.7 which is estimated in the case of RIA-simulated test. It is considered that the data obtained in this study can be used as a fundamental basis for quantifying the failure criteria of fuel cladding under a biaxial stress state.     

Post Irradiation Examination of High Burnup PWR Fuel

Post irradiation examination (PIE) of a high burnt lead fuel assembly, which was irradiated to demonstrate fuel integrity at high burnup, was performed before the start of the full batch loading of high burnup fuel of 48GWd/t maximum fuel assembly burnup.

The lead fuel assembly was 17×17 B-type PWR fuel which was supplied by Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. (NFI) and achieved the maximum burnup of 45 GWd/t after 4 cycles of irradiation in Ohi Unit 1 of the Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. (Kansai).

Twelve fuel rods extracted from the lead fuel assembly at the reactor site were examined at the hot-cell facility of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) in Tokai-mura.

Visually, the fuel rods appeared to be in good conditions, but some small spallings were observed at the second span from the top where oxide film was relatively thicker than other spans. Even in this span, the maximum oxide film thickness was less than 50 μm Fission gas release rate was less than 1%, which caused only a small increase in fuel rod internal pressure. Mechanical properties of the fuel cladding were evaluated by tensile tests.

These PIE results were within the range of other PIE data previously obtained from domestic and foreign PWR fuel rods. The data confirmed that the integrity of B-type fuel would be maintained at least up to 48 GWd/t.     

弥散型燃料的裂变气体行为研究

探讨了弥散型燃料中对辐照肿胀有重要影响的裂变气体的行为机理。裂变气体原子聚集成气泡引起燃料相肿胀,气泡的尺寸分布是影响辐照肿胀的重要因素。决定气泡生长的裂变气体的行为机理主要有：裂变气体原子的产生和热扩散迁移,气泡的成核和聚合长大,气泡内气体原子的重溶,燃料相的辐照亚晶化等过程。燃料中各种尺寸的气泡浓度随时间的变化率可用气泡生长的动力学速率方程组来描述。当裂变密度较高时,辐照产生的缺陷引起燃料相的     

An Apparatus for Continuously Measuring Radon-222 Exhalation from Ground

High burnup MOX and UO₂ test rods were prepared from the fuel rods irradiated in commercial BWRs. Each test rod was equipped with a fuel center thermocouple and reirradiated in the Halden boiling water reactor (HBWR) in Norway. The burnups of MOX and UO₂ test rods reached about 84GWd/tHM and 72GWd/t, respectively. Fuel temperature was measured continuously during the re-irradiation tests. Thermal conductivity change in high burnup fuel was evaluated from the results of comparison between the measured fuel temperature and the data calculated by using the fuel analysis code FEMAXI-6. The comparison results suggested that the thermal conductivity of MOX fuel pellets is comparable to that of UO₂ fuel pellets in the high burnup region around 80 GWd/t. It is probable that the impurity effect of Pu atoms gradually diminishes with increasing burnup because other factors that affect pellet thermal conductivity, such as the accumulation effect of soluble fission products and irradiation-induced defects in crystal lattice, become dominant in a high burnup region.     

CENTER燃料组件堆内辐照考验燃耗计算研究

为验证中国工程试验堆（CENTER）燃料组件设计,在燃料组件正式定型前需开展组件辐照考验,CENTER燃料组件在高通量工程试验堆（HFETR）内采用随堆辐照方式进行辐照考验。根据CENTER燃料组件特点,开展了HFETR辐照考验CENTER燃料组件燃耗计算方法研究,确定了CENTER燃料组件辐照考验堆芯物理计算采用镶嵌耦合方法。结果表明,燃料组件平均燃耗计算值与测量值偏差为3.25%,满足辐照考验要求。      

Gas-cooled fast breeder reactor fuel bundle irradiations in the BR2 helium loop

In the BR2 helium loop at Mol, Belgium, a 12-pin test fuel element of gas-cooled fast breeder reactor (GCFR) design and materials will be irradiated at a 500 W/cm maximum pin rating and a 700°C maximum cladding temperature to a target burnup of 60 MWd/kg (extension to 100 MWd/kg is intended). The design of the test element and the loop is described in detail. To fabricate the test element, parts of the GCFR fuel development had to be anticipated. Preliminary out-of-pile testing was successfully performed, and irradiation is scheduled to start in early 1977 and will be completed between mid-1978 and mid-1979, depending on the final burnup objective. GCFR operating conditions will be completely simulated except for the full size of the fuel element and the fast neutron flux. In combination with out-of-pile performance testing of full-size dummy elements and fast flux experience from the liquid metal fast breeder reactor program, the helium loop irradiation is regarded as an adequate basis for the design of a fuel element for a GCFR demonstration plant serving as the final test bed.     

Irradiation tests and post-irradiation examinations of DUPIC fuel

The technology of a DUPIC (Direct Use of spent PWR fuel In CANDU Reactors) fuel has been developed at KAERI for 10 years. To identify a robustness of the DUPIC fuel pellet, it has been irradiated for six times since August 1999 in HANARO. Among them, the first irradiation test was carried out with a simulated fuel. Therefore, a maximum burnup up to 6700 MWD/tHM was achieved through six irradiation tests of the DUPIC fuel. A remote instrumentation technology was also developed to obtain various on-line data including a centerline temperature and some remote devices had also been implemented. After irradiation tests of the DUPIC fuel, post-irradiation tests had been performed consecutively in the irradiation material examination facility (IMEF) at KAERI. A fuel performance code was also developed to compare the measured centerline temperatures for the fifth and the sixth irradiation tests.     

Irradiation performance and modeling of HTR-10 coated fuel particles

The irradiation test of HTR-10 spherical fuel elements was carried out in the Russian IVV-2M research reactor with the irradiation temperature of 1000 ± 50 °C. After the burnup reached 100,000 MWd/t, the irradiation temperature was raised to a higher temperature. The high R/B levels observed during the normal irradiation test were due to manufacture defects of one to four coated particles. Post-irradiation examination indicated that at normal irradiation condition, the pyrolytic carbon (PyC) and silicon carbide (SiC) layers of particles kept their integrity. However, after irradiation at higher temperatures, several types of defects including radial and tangential cracks in SiC layers, cracks in buffer layers, and through coating failure were found, and the failure fraction reached 5.8 × 10⁻². These defects were most likely caused by the higher thermal stresses generated. In this study, PANAMA fuel performance code was used to estimate the heating temperature in the irradiation test. The calculated results showed that when the heating temperature is much higher than 1850 °C, the failure fraction of coated particle can reach the level of 1%.     

Stress biaxiality in high-burnup PWR fuel cladding under reactivity-initiated accident conditions

In order to promote a better understanding of failure mechanisms of high-burnup pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuels under reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) conditions, stress biaxiality in cladding has been estimated for the pellet-cladding (PC) mechanical interaction (PCMI) phase. The estimation was based on an analysis of the transient elongations of a pellet stack and a cladding tube measured in RIA-simulating experiments in the nuclear safety research reactor (NSRR) using the RANNS code. Stress biaxiality in the high-burnup PWR fuel cladding during the PCMI phase has been estimated to be 0.7–0.8, on average, at the mid-wall of the cladding. A comparison with fresh fuel test results and a sensitivity analysis showed that the effects of burnup and pulse width on cladding stress biaxiality are less than 10% for the investigated range. The present analysis also indicated that PC friction is strong, and that the cladding constraint on pellet stack elongation is significant irrespective of burnup. Therefore, it is recommended that strong PC friction be assumed, which is similar to the mechanical bonding condition, and that fuel pellets be treated as deformable materials in models of fuel behavior during the PCMI phase.     

燃料试样堆内辐照温度设计与实验研究

为使燃料尽可能在最恶劣设计工况下进行辐照实验，开展基于高通量工程试验堆（HFETR）的燃料试样堆内辐照温度设计与实验研究。按照铀装量设计燃料试样在辐照装置内的位置，能够改善轴向燃料试样热流密度的不均匀性。HFETR主冷却剂低温状态下，在燃料试样外包覆液态铅铋合金和不锈钢能够实现燃料芯体及燃料包壳的高辐照温度指标。设计和实验结果表明，稳态和短期瞬态运行工况下，不锈钢盒表面辐照温度始终低于HFETR燃料元件包壳表面最高温度限值，满足反应堆运行和燃料辐照实验安全要求。为提高稳态运行工况下燃料试样的辐照温度，堆芯设计时应避免或降低由于反应性扰动造成的辐照装置内燃料试样短期瞬态功率影响，减小辐照孔道内燃料试样的热点因子。      

On the significance of modeling nuclear fuel behavior with the right representation of physical phenomena

This work emphasizes the relevance of representation of appropriate mechanisms for understanding the actual physical behavior of the fuel pin under irradiation. Replacing fully empirical simplified treatments with more rigorous semi-empirical models which include the important pieces of physics, would open the path to more accurately capture the sensitivity to various parameters such as operating conditions, geometry, composition, and enhance the uncertainty quantification process. Steady state and transient fuel behavior demonstration examples and implications are given for sodium fast reactor metallic fuels by using FEAST-METAL. The essence of appropriate modeling of the fuel clad mechanical interaction and fuel clad chemical interaction of the metallic fuels are emphasized. Furthermore, validation efforts for oxide fuel pellet swelling behavior at high temperature and high burnup LWR conditions and comparison with FRAPCON-EP and FRAPCON-3.4 codes will be given. The value of discriminating the oxide fuel swelling modes, instead of applying a linear line, is pointed out. Future directions on fuel performance modeling will be addressed.