Irradiation performance of advanced fuels for HTGR's

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1973

OSTI ID:4386214

Coobs, J H; Eatherly, W P; Scott, J L

From international conference on nuclear fuel performance; London, UK (15 Oct 1973). Fuel for large HTGR power stations in the United States consists of coated particles of ThO/sub 2/ as fertile material mixed with smaller coated particles containing fissile material, either /sup 233/U from recycle of bred fuel or /sup 233/U as makeup fuel. Recycle fuel particles containing /sup 233/U mixed with thorium in sol-- gel oxide microspheres have been prepared and experiments in progress will test a fuel compositon consisting of Th/U = 4 to full exposure and burnup. The use of weak-acid ion exchange resin particles as precursors for either type of fissile fuel kernel offers several advantages.in processing and properties. Pilot-scale preparation and testing of resin-base fuels demonstrated that their performance is adequate and indicate that such fuels may be capable of operating at temperatures well above 1300 deg C. Such high-performance fuels are desirable for process heat and direct-cycle applications. (auth)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn. (USA)
• NSA Number: NSA-29-005395
• OSTI ID: 4386214
• Report Number(s): CONF-731004--3
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*COATED FUEL PARTICLES-- PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
*HTGR TYPE REACTORS-- COATED FUEL PARTICLES
*THORIUM OXIDES-- PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
*URANIUM DIOXIDE-- PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BINARY MIXTURES
BREEDING
BURNUP
FERTILE MATERIALS
FUEL CYCLE
N50140* --Metals
Ceramics
& Other Materials--Ceramics & Cermets--Radiation Effects
N77300 --Reactors--Power Reactors
Non-breeding
Graphite Moderated
PERFORMANCE
REPROCESSING
SOL-GEL PROCESS
SPHERES
URANIUM 233
VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE