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Title: The manufacture and performance of homogeneous microstructure SBR MOX fuel

Conference ·
OSTI ID:21229262
 [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Nexia Solutions Ltd., British Technology Centre, Sellafield, CA20 1PG (United Kingdom)
  2. Sellafield Ltd., B582, Sellafield, CA20 1PG (United Kingdom)

In the early 1980's, British experience in the manufacture of mixed-oxide fast reactor fuel was used to develop a new thermal MOX manufacturing route called the Short Binder-less Route (SBR). Laboratory- scale development led to the manufacture of commercial PWR fuel in a small pilot plant, and the construction of the full-scale dual-line Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP). SMP's first MOX assemblies are now under irradiation. SBR MOX is manufactured with 100% co-milled feedstock, leading to a microstructure dominated by a solid solution of (U,Pu)O{sub 2} at the nominal enrichment. A comprehensive fuel performance research programme has demonstrated the benign performance of SBR MOX up to 54 MWd/kgHM. In particular, the homogeneous microstructure is believed to be instrumental in the favourable fission gas retention and PCI resistance properties. (authors)

Research Organization:
American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
OSTI ID:
21229262
Resource Relation:
Conference: 2007 LWR Fuel Performance Meeting / TopFuel 2007, San Francisco, CA (United States), 30 Sep - 3 Oct 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 16 refs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2007 LWR Fuel Performance Meeting / TopFuel 2007 'Zero by 2010', 683 pages.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English