• Title/Summary/Keyword: irradiated fuel

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Metal Fuel Development and Verification for Prototype Generation IV Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor

  • Lee, Chan Bock;Cheon, Jin Sik;Kim, Sung Ho;Park, Jeong-Yong;Joo, Hyung-Kook
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.48 no.5
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    • pp.1096-1108
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    • 2016
  • Metal fuel is being developed for the prototype generation-IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (PGSFR) to be built by 2028. U-Zr fuel is a driver for the initial core of the PGSFR, and U-transuranics (TRU)-Zr fuel will gradually replace U-Zr fuel through its qualification in the PGSFR. Based on the vast worldwide experiences of U-Zr fuel, work on U-Zr fuel is focused on fuel design, fabrication of fuel components, and fuel verification tests. U-TRU-Zr fuel uses TRU recovered through pyroelectrochemical processing of spent PWR (pressurized water reactor) fuels, which contains highly radioactive minor actinides and chemically active lanthanide or rare earth elements as carryover impurities. An advanced fuel slug casting system, which can prevent vaporization of volatile elements through a control of the atmospheric pressure of the casting chamber and also deal with chemically active lanthanide elements using protective coatings in the casting crucible, was developed. Fuel cladding of the ferritic-martensitic steel FC92, which has higher mechanical strength at a high temperature than conventional HT9 cladding, was developed and fabricated, and is being irradiated in the fast reactor.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF U-Mo/Al DISPERSION FUEL BY CONSIDERING A FUEL-MATRIX INTERACTION

  • Ryu, Ho-Jin;Kim, Yeon-Soo;Park, Jong-Man;Chae, Hee-Taek;Kim, Chang-Kyu
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.40 no.5
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    • pp.409-418
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    • 2008
  • Because the interaction layers that form between U-Mo particles and the Al matrix degrade the thermal properties of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel, an investigation was undertaken of the undesirable feedback effect between an interaction layer growth and a centerline temperature increase for dispersion fuel. The radial temperature distribution due to interaction layer growth during irradiation was calculated iteratively in relation to changes in the volume fractions, the thermal conductivities of the constituents, and the oxide thickness with the burnup. The interaction layer growth, which is estimated on the basis of the temperature calculations, showed a reasonable agreement with the post-irradiation examination results of the U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel rods irradiated at the HANARO reactor. The U-Mo particle size was found to be a dominant factor that determined the fuel temperature during irradiation. Dispersion fuel with larger U-Mo particles revealed lower levels of both the interaction layer formation and the fuel temperature increase. The results confirm that the use of large U-Mo particles appears to be an effective way of mitigating the thermal degradation of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel.

Measurement of Ballooning Gap Size of Irradiated Fuels Using Neutron Radiography Transfer Method and HV Image Filter

  • Sim, Cheul-Muu;Kim, TaeJoo;Oh, Hwa Suk;Kim, Joon Cheol
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.212-218
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    • 2013
  • A transfer method of neutron radiography was developed to measure the size of the end plug and a gap of an intact K102L-2, the irradiated fuel of a ballooned K174L-3, a ballooned and ruptured K98L-3. A typical irradiation time of 25 min. was determined to obtain a film density of between 2 and 3 of SR X-ray film with neutrons of $1.5{\times}10^{11}n{\cdot}cm^{-2}$. To validate and calibrate the results, a RISO fuel standard sample, Cd plate and ASTM-BPI/SI were used. An activated latent image formed in the $100{\mu}m$ Dy foil was subsequently transferred in a dark room for more than 8 hours to the SR film which is a maximum of three half-lives. Due to the L/D ratio an unsharpness of $9.82-14{\mu}m$ and a magnification of 1.0003 were given. After digitizing an image of SR film, the ballooning gap of the plug was discernible by an H/V filter of image processing. The gap size of the ballooned element, K174L-3, is equal to or greater than 1.2 mm. The development of a transfer method played a pivotal role in developing high burn-up of Wolsung and PWR nuclear fuel type.

A CLASSIFICATION OF UNIQUELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF NUCLEAR FISSION GAS BEHAVIOR

  • HOFMAN GERARD L.;KIM YEON SOO
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.299-308
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    • 2005
  • The behavior of fission gas in all major types of nuclear fuel has been reviewed with an emphasis on more recently discovered aspects. It is proposed that the behavior of fission gas can be classified in a number of characteristic types that occur at a high or low operating temperature, and/or at high or low fissile burnup. The crystal structure and microstructure of the various fuels are the determinant factors in the proposed classification scheme. Three types of behavior, characterized by anisotropic $\alpha$-U, high temperature metallic $\gamma$-U, and cubic ceramics, are well-known and have been extensively studied in the literature. Less widely known are two equally typical low temperature kinds: one associated with fission induced grain refinement and the other with fission induced amorphization. Grain refinement is seen in crystalline fuel irradiated to high burnup at low temperatures, whereas breakaway swelling is observed in amorphous fuel containing sufficient excess free-volume. Amorphous fuel, however, shows stable swelling if insufficient excess free-volume is available during irradiation.