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Title: Sister Rod Nondestructive Examination Final Report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1465039· OSTI ID:1465039

This report documents work performed under the Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology program. This work was performed to fulfill the Level 2 Milestone M2SF-17OR010201021, “Documentation of Non-destructive Tests on Sister Pins,” within work package SF-17OR01020102. The High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, sponsored by DOE-NE, is focused on understanding the effects of long-term storage and transportation on high burnup (HBU) (>45 gigawatt days per metric ton uranium) light water reactor fuel. The goals of the project are to “provide confirmatory data for model validation and potential improvement, provide input to future spent nuclear fuel (SNF) dry storage cask design, support license renewals and new licenses for Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs), and support transportation licensing for high burnup SNF". In support of project goals, 25 sister rods were removed from fuel assemblies at the North Anna Power Station. Nine rods were removed from the project assemblies, and 16 rods were removed from similar HBU assemblies. The 25 sister rods were shipped to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory (IFEL) in early 2016 for detailed nondestructive examination (NDE) and destructive examination (DE). The detailed examinations will provide essential information on the physical state of the HBU rods and the fuel contained in the rods prior to loading, drying, and long-term dry storage. Similar tests will be performed at the end of the long-term storage period to identify any changes in the fuel rods’ properties during the dry storage period.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1465039
Report Number(s):
ORNL/SPR-2018/801; M2SF-17OR010201021; TRN: US1901776
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English