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U.S. Department of Energy
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Demonstrate Thermal Property Measurement on Irradiated Fuel in IMCL

Program Document ·
OSTI ID:1605593

In order to assist in the post-irradiated measurement of thermal conductivity, the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) of the DOE’s Nuclear Technology Research and Development (NTRD) program has invested in the design and build of a thermal conductivity microscope (TCM) system [3] based upon thermoreflectance methods. The TCM was installed into the Thermal Properties Cell (TPC) in the Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory at the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in December 2018. In addition to the TCM, a Netzsch Laser Flash analyzer (LFA) instrument (model LFA427HC) was designed and built via vendor contract and installed into the TPC in April 2019. These instruments were specifically designed for the measurement of thermal conductivity and diffusivity on irradiated fuels and materials. The TPC began radiological operations on September 12, 2019. In order to demonstrate the successful installation of this new measurement capability the U-Zr fuel system, specifically U-10 wt.% Zr, was chosen as the first material to be evaluated due to its importance to the NTRD program. The results of the first four measurements conducted in the TPC on the LFA and the TCM are given in this report.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
US DOE Office of Nuclear Energy
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1605593
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-19-55902-Rev000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English