Nuclear fuel post-irradiation examination equipment package
- AREVA NP Inc., Lynchburg, VA (United States)
- UT-Battelle, LLC, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Hot cell capabilities in the U.S. are being reviewed and revived to meet today's demand for fuel reliability, tomorrow's demands for higher burnup fuel and future demand for fuel recycling. Fuel reliability, zero tolerance for failure, is more than an industry buzz. It is becoming a requirement to meet the rapidly escalating demands for the impending renaissance of nuclear power generation, fuel development, and management of new waste forms that will need to be dealt with from programs such as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Fuel performance data is required to license fuel for higher burnup; to verify recycled fuel performance, such as MOX, for wide-scale use in commercial reactors; and, possibly, to license fuel for a new generation of fast reactors. Additionally, fuel isotopic analysis and recycling technologies will be critical factors in the goal to eventually close the fuel cycle. This focus on fuel reliability coupled with the renewed interest in recycling puts a major spotlight on existing hot cell capabilities in the U.S. and their ability to provide the baseline analysis to achieve a closed fuel cycle. Hot cell examination equipment is necessary to determine the characteristics and performance of irradiated materials that are subjected to nuclear reactor environments. The equipment within the hot cells is typically operated via master-slave manipulators and is typically manually operated. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is modernizing their hot cell nuclear fuel examination equipment, installing automated examination equipment and data gathering capabilities. Currently, the equipment has the capability to perform fuel rod visual examinations, length and diametrical measurements, eddy current examination, profilometry, gamma scanning, fission gas collection and void fraction measurement, and fuel rod segmentation. The used fuel postirradiation examination equipment was designed to examine full-length fuel rods for both Boiling Water Reactors and Pressurized Water Reactors. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21290825
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-07220; TRN: US10V0150038236
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM'07: 2007 Waste Management Symposium - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25 Feb - 1 Mar 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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