Progress of air oxidation tests on spent light-water reactor fuel in an imposed gamma field
The Spent Fuel Oxidation Program at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is directed towards providing a data base for the oxidation behavior of spent light-water reactor (LWR) fuel. This information will establish the basis for (1) determining the temperature above which monitoring for loss of an inert storage atmosphere is required, (2) assessing fuel conditions in the case of an abnormal event (e.g., air inleakage into a cask with an inert cover gas), and (3) determining acceptable exposure and temperature conditions for fuel storage in air. An oxidation test matrix was designed to provide an adequate number of specimens and testing conditions to determine the statistical significance of the following variables: temperature, exposure period, and moisture of the test atmosphere. Various spent fuels are being tested, including pressurized-water reactor (PWR) and boiling-water reactor (BWR) fuels from different reactors. To simulate dry storage conditions, a gamma field of about 10/sup 5/ R/h was imposed. Test results to date reveal that higher levels of irradiation, as indexed by burnup level, increase the stability of the basic UO/sub 2/ crystal structure. Consequently, oxidation of specimens with higher burnup levels resulted in larger weight gains and longer periods before low-density powder formed. For all burnup levels tested, the spent UO/sub 2/ fuel crystal structure was more resistant to low-density powder formation than the nonirradiated UO/sub 2/ pellet crystal structure.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6338028
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-14821; CONF-870437-2; ON: DE87011143
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Workshop on chemical reactivity of oxide fuel and fission product release, Gloucestershire, UK, 6 Apr 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
BWR TYPE REACTORS
NUCLEAR FUELS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
PWR TYPE REACTORS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
OXIDATION
BURNUP
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
FUEL ELEMENTS
GAMMA RADIATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TESTING
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COHERENT SCATTERING
DIFFRACTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SCATTERING
STORAGE
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM OXIDES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
210100 - Power Reactors
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