Helium bubbles and trace of lithium in B4C control rod pellets used in JOYO experimental fast reactor |
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Authors: | Yan You Katsumi Yoshida Toshihiko Inoue Toyohiko Yano |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan;2. Laboratory for Advanced Nuclear Energy, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan;3. Oarai Research and Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita-cho, Oarai-machi, 311-1393, Higashi-ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki, Japan |
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Abstract: | B4C pellets used in the control rod of the experimental fast reactor ‘JOYO’ with different 10B burnups from lower than 10 × 1020 captures/cm3 to 80 × 1020 captures/cm3 and irradiated at less than 800 °C were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In a B4C pellet irradiated in an irradiation capsule of ‘JOYO’ at 800 °C up to 30 × 1020 captures/cm3, intragranular helium bubbles appeared in flat plate-shapes with the plane of the plate parallel to the (111) rhombohedral plane. However, in the other specimens that were taken from an actual control rod, the helium gas formed very tiny spherical intergranular bubbles with a diameter of a few nanometers . These tiny bubbles make wavy arrays roughly parallel to the (111) plane. The B4C specimens were heated on a TEM in situ heating holder up to 1040 °C for 10 min. Clustering of tiny bubbles was observed, but did not extend to the plate-shaped bubbles. In high burnup specimens, large bubbles/cracks were rarely found along the {100} planes, which may correspond to the amorphous bands caused by the slip. While heating the specimens in TEM over 800 °C, liquid phases of lithium-bearing compoundsappeared on the surface of specimen. |
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Keywords: | B4C neutron irradiation neutron absorber fast reactor helium bubble TEM in situ heating lithium |
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