New In-pile Instrumentation to Support Fuel Cycle Research and Development
New and enhanced nuclear fuels are a key enabler for new and improved reactor technologies. For example, the goals of the next generation nuclear plant (NGNP) will not be met without irradiations successfully demonstrating the safety and reliability of new fuels. Likewise, fuel reliability has become paramount in ensuring the competitiveness of nuclear power plants. Recently, the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy (DOE-NE) launched a new direction in fuel research and development that emphasizes an approach relying on first principle models to develop optimized fuel designs that offer significant improvements over current fuels. To facilitate this approach, high fidelity, real-time, data are essential for characterizing the performance of new fuels during irradiation testing. A three-year strategic research program is proposed for developing the required test vehicles with sensors of unprecedented accuracy and resolution for obtaining the data needed to characterize three-dimensional changes in fuel microstructure during irradiation testing. When implemented, this strategy will yield test capsule designs that are instrumented with new sensor technologies for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and other irradiation locations for the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FC R&D) program. Prior laboratory testing, and as needed, irradiation testing, of these sensors will have been completed to give sufficient confidence that the irradiation tests will yield the required data. Obtaining these sensors must draw upon the expertise of a wide-range of organizations not currently supporting nuclear fuels research. This document defines this strategic program and provides the necessary background information related to fuel irradiation testing, desired parameters for detection, and an overview of currently available in-pile instrumentation. In addition, candidate sensor technologies are identified in this document, and a list of proposed criteria for ranking these technologies. A preliminary ranking of candidate technologies is performed to illustrate the path forward for developing real-time instrumentation that could provide the required data for the FC R&D program. This draft document is a starting point for discussion with instrumentation experts and organizations. It is anticipated that the document will be used to stimulate discussions on a wide-range of sensor technologies and to gain consensus with respect to the path forward for accomplishing the goals of this research program.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- OTHER
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 1009173
- Report Number(s):
- INL/EXT-10-19149; TRN: US1101748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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