THE ZrO$sub 2$-CaO-UO$sub 2$ CERAMIC FUEL FABRICATION FOR THE EBWR SPIKED CORE ELEMENTS. Final Report-Metallurgy Program 7.9.5

Technical Report · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1961

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4031954· OSTI ID:4031954

Lied, R. C.; Lynch, E. D.; Handwerk, J. H.

A series of experiments was proposed in which the thermal output of the EBWR is increased to 100 Mw. The increase in thermal enengy will be accomplished by inserting 32 spike elements in the initial fuel core. The fuel selected for the spike elements was a cubic solid solution in the system ZrO/sub 2/- CaO- UO/ sub 2/. The ceramic fuel was fabricated in the form of pellets by compacting a mixture of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/, CaCO/sub 3/, and ZrO/sub 2/. The pressed pellets were sintered in air at 1675 deg C plus or minus 25 deg C to form a cubic solid solution having a composition of 9.01 wt.% UO/sub 2/ (93% enriched), 9.07 wt.% CaO, and 81.92 wt.% ZrO/sub 2/. The procedures used in forming the fuel pellets are described. Following fabrication, the pellets were loosely inserted into Zircaloy-2 tubes for subsequent assembly into fuel elements. (auth)

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Ill.
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• NSA Number: NSA-15-023872
• OSTI ID: 4031954
• Report Number(s): ANL-6168
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AIR
BOILING
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM OXIDES
CERAMICS
COMPACTING
EBWR
FABRICATION
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
METALS, CERAMICS, AND OTHER MATERIALS
MIXING
PELLETS
POWDERS
POWER
REACTORS
SINTERING
SOLID SOLUTIONS
TEMPERATURE
TUBES
U3O8
URANIUM DIOXIDE
WATER COOLANT
WATER MODERATOR
ZIRCALOY
ZIRCONIUM OXIDES