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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

UO$sub 2$ FUEL ROD OPERATION WITH GROSS CENTRAL MELTING

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4651057· OSTI ID:4651057
EPT-12, a fuel assembly of four rods containing hollow UO/sub 2/ pellets clad in Zircaloy-2, is being irradiated in the GETR pressurized-water loop at extreme thermal conditions to produce gross central melting. The peak surface heat flux of the maximum power rod is 1.4 x 10/sup 6/ Btu/hr-ft/sup 2/. More than 70% of the UO/sup 2/ cross section is molten, and the thickness of the unmelted UO/sup 2/ rim adjacent to the cladding is approximates 40 mils. The assembly has attained a burnup of 5,300 Mwd/Te and 23 power cycles. Interim examination of the fuel assembly at the 5,300 Mwd/Te burnup level showed the rods to be identical to the pre-irradiation conditions. The irradiation results are tabulated along with those for earlier fuel assemblies. (D. L.C.)
Research Organization:
General Electric Co. Atomic Power Equipment Dept., San Jose, Calif.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
NSA Number:
NSA-17-036342
OSTI ID:
4651057
Report Number(s):
CONF-39-89
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English