Manufacture and characteristics of spherical fuel elements for the HTR-10

The R&D of spherical fuel elements for the 10 MW high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR-10) started in 1986 in China. A process known as cold quasi-isostatic molding was used for manufacturing spherical fuel elements, and about 20,540 spherical fuel elements were produced in 2000 and 2001. Fabrication technology and graphite matrix materials were investigated and optimized. Cold properties of the spherical fuel elements met the design specifications. The mean free uranium fraction of 44 batches was 4.57 × 10⁻⁵. In-pile irradiation test results showed that irradiation did not lead to apparent change in linear dimensional, geometrical density, porosity and strength of matrix graphite samples. No cracks and blisters were observed in spherical fuel elements. This indicated that matrix graphite and spherical fuel elements of HTR-10 met the requirement of design specifications.