AGR-2 TRISO Fuel Post-Irradiation Examination Final Report

Program Document · Thu Sep 09 04:00:00 EDT 2021

OSTI ID:1822447

Stempien, John D ^[1]; hunn, John D. ^[2]; Morris, Robert N. ^[2]; Gerczak, Tyler J. ^[2]; Demkowicz, Paul A ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory
2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory

An array of post-irradiation exams and experiments were employed to assess the irradiation performance and high-temperature behavior of AGR-2 UCO TRISO fuel produced in an engineering-scale coater. Work was also conducted on UO2 TRISO fuel produced for comparison with the AGR UCO fuel. Emphases we replaced on enumerating the frequency of SiC layer failures (failure of the SiC layer with at least one PyC layer remaining intact) and TRISO failures (failure of all three dense layers) and evaluating the retention of key fission products within the fuel. Examinations of the fuel kernel and coating morphologies were used to understand the features typical of normal intact fuel, degraded or failed fuel, and mechanisms of degradation. Radiochemical analyses were used to determine their retention within the fuel. The results confirm excellent performance of the fuel that exceeds historical HTGR design requirements with significant margin.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 1822447
• Report Number(s): INL/EXT-21-64279-Rev000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
AGR-2
Advanced Gas Reactor
PIE
TRISO
fuel qualification
post-irradiation examination