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ANALYSIS OF POSSIBLE POWER EXCURSIONS ON ALUMINUM ALLOY FUELED PWR MOCK-UP

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4335802
The possibility of fuel element damage for a reactor fueled with an Al-- U alloy fuel is investigated. The reactor considered is a mockup of PWR Core 1 using seed fuel in the form of a 20.6 wt.% enriched U--Al alloy. The analysis is based on that given in NRL-4495. This analysis assumes that the self shutdown mechanism is a vaporization of water by the heat produced in the fuel plates. The vaporization reduces the effective moderator density and hence the rcactivity and terminates the excursion. This type of analysis was used in WAPD-SC-531 to demonstrate the adequacy of the self shutdown properties for the PWR mockup using a U-- Zr alloy fuel. The results for the Al--U fuel indicate that for reactor periods as short as 2 milliseconds the maximum temperature in the fuel plates is below the melting point of the Al alloy (--660 deg C). (auth)
Research Organization:
Westinghouse Electric Corp. Atomic Power Div., Pittsburgh
NSA Number:
NSA-12-005017
OSTI ID:
4335802
Report Number(s):
WAPD-PWR-Ph-243
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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