Preparation of Prototypic Irradiated Hydrided-Zircaloy Cladding for UFDC Programs
- ORNL
The DOE Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) has tasked ORNL to investigate the behavior of light-water-reactor fuel cladding material performance related to extended storage and transportation of used fuel. Fast neutron irradiation of pre-hydrided zirconium-alloy cladding in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at elevated temperatures has been used to simulate the effects of high burnup on used fuel cladding for use in understanding the materials properties relevant to very long-term storage (VLTS) and subsequent transportation. The irradiated pre-hydrided metallic materials will generate baseline data to benchmark hot-cell testing of high-burnup used fuel cladding; and, more importantly, samples free of alpha contamination can be provided to the researchers who do not have hot cell facilities to handle highly contaminated high-burnup used fuel cladding to support their research projects for the UFDC. In order to accomplish this research, ORNL has produced unirradiated zirconium-based cladding tubes with a certain hydrogen concentration. Two capsules (HYCD-1 and HYCD-2) containing hydrided zirconium-based samples, 9.50 mm (0.374 in) in diameter, were inserted in HFIR for neutron irradiation. HYCD-1 was removed after Cycle 440B and HYCD-2 after Cycle 442. This paper will describe the general HYCD experiment configuration, achieved temperatures, and temperature gradients within the cladding, and current results of the PIE of the irradiated hydrided cladding samples.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1110925
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: LWR Fuel Performance Meeting/Top Fuel 2013, Charlotte, NC, USA, 20130915, 20130919
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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