THE MANUFACTURE OF EBR-I, MARK III FUEL AND BLANKET RODS
The fuel and blanket elements for the EBR-I, Mark III core loading are round rods nominally 0.403" plus or minus 0.001" diameter by 21.750" long. Both types are identical in external appearance and size. The uranium-bearing section is 19.812" long. This zone is a single section of normal uranium in the blanket rods. Fuel rods contain an 8.500" central section of uranium enriched to 92.5% U/sup 235/ flanked at each end by normal uranium sections. Solid Zircaloy 2 end caps are at the terminal ends of-both types. The rods were made of lengths of 2 wt.% uranium-zirconium alloy clad with a 20 mil jacket of Zircaloy 2 by coextruding alloy billets sealed in Zircaloy 2 cans. To circumvent the end effects normally encountered in coextrusion and to minimize the number of billets required, billets of a volume sufficient to provide a numher of fuel blanket elements per extruded length were used. The long rods were next cut into shorter lengths appropriate for assembly into either fuel or blanket rods. These were then assembled with the Zircaloy 2 end caps and/or fuel sections and the sections were joined at the jackets by tungsten inert gas welding. To provide mechanical strength to the welded joints, the sections were next bonded throughout the cross section at each joint interface by fusing the uranium alloy to the Zircaloy 2 end fittings and disc separators. Each completed rod is provided with three longitudinal spacing ribs, fastened at 120- intervals around the periphery of the jacket. The ribs, in the form of 0.056" diameter zirconium wire, were automatically spot welded in place, all three ribs being fastened in a single set- up. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., Lemont, Ill.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-12-015046
- OSTI ID:
- 4315546
- Report Number(s):
- A/CONF.15/P/791
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Prepared for the Second U.N. International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1958. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-58
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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