Irradiation effects of boron carbide used as control rod elements in fast breeder reactors |
| |
Authors: | Tadashi Inoue Takeo Onchi Hiroaki Kôyama Hiroshige Suzuki |
| |
Affiliation: | Energy and Environment Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 11-1, Iwato Kita 2 Chóme, Komae-shi, Tokyo 182, Japan;Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 12-1, Ookayama 2 Chome, Megro-ku, Tokyo 152, Japan |
| |
Abstract: | The paper describes radiation effects on 84C pellets used as control rod elements in the Enrico Fermi Fast Breeder Reactor. Pellet swelling (Δ) caused by irradiation was less than 1% in which crystal lattice swelling was less than 20%. Many microcracks, a main cause of pellet swelling, appeared in the irradiated pellets. The production of microcracks was related to graphite precipitation in the pellets before irradiation. Open pores which did not exist in the unirradiated pellets were formed in the irradiated ones. In a unit cell of B4C, the α-axis elongated by 0.025 Å and the shrank by 0.07 Å by irradiation. Moreover, we found three recovery stages which were from room temperature to 400°C, from 400 to 750°C and from 850 to 1100°C. The recovery mechanisms in the irradiated pellets are discussed in terms of the helium behavior. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|