Experiment HFR-B1: A preliminary analysis of the water-vapor injection experiments in capsule 3

Technical Report · Sun Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10183286· OSTI ID:10183286

Myers, B F

A preliminary analysis of the response of uranium oxycarbide (UCO) fuel to water vapor addition in capsule 3 of experiment HFR-B1 (HFR-B1/3) has been conducted. The analysis provides an early indication of the behavior of fission gas release under a wider range of water-vapor pressures and of temperatures than heretofore studied. A preliminary analysis of selected aspects of the water-vapor injection tests in capsule 3 of experiment HFR-B1 is presented. The release of fission gas stored in bubbles and the diffusive release of fission-gas atoms are distinguished. The dependence of the release of stored fission gas ({sup 85m}Kr) on water-vapor pressure, P(H{sub 2}O), and temperature were established taking into account the contributing mechanisms of gaseous release, the effect of graphite hydrolysis, and the requirement of consistency with experiment HRB-17 in which similar water-vapor injection tests were conducted. The dependence on P(H{sub 2}O) becomes weaker as temperatures increase above 770{degree}C; the activation energy for release of stored-fission gas is 393 kJ/mol. Isorelease curves for the pressure-temperature plane were deduced from a derived functional relation. The stored-fission gas releases as a function of P(H{sub 2}O) at a common temperature for experiments HFR-B1 and HRB-17 differ by a factor of 4; this discrepancy could be attributed to the differences in fission-rate density and neutron flux between the two experiments. Diffusive release of fission gas occurred during and after the release of stored gas. The ratio of diffusive release during water-vapor injection to that prior to injection varied in contrast to the results from HRB-17. The variation was attributed to the practice of injecting water vapor into HFR-B1 before sintering of the fuel, hydrolyzed in the previous test, was completed. The derived activation energy for diffusive release is 23.6 kJ/mol.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 10183286
• Report Number(s): CONF-9306234--2; ON: DE93018723
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220600
220900
EXPERIMENTAL CHANNELS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FISSION PRODUCT RELEASE
FLUID INJECTION
FUEL-COOLANT INTERACTIONS
GRAPHITE
HFR REACTOR
HYDROLYSIS
KRYPTON 85
OXYCARBIDES
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
REACTOR SAFETY
REACTOR SAFETY EXPERIMENTS
RESEARCH
TEST
TRAINING
PRODUCTION
IRRADIATION
MATERIALS TESTING REACTORS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
WATER VAPOR