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

HEAD-WELDED SWAGEABLE END CAP FOR UO$sub 2$-PuO$sub 2$ FUEL ELEMENTS

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4742991

A head-welded swageable end cap of Zircaloy-2 was developed and adopted for use on swage-compacted UO/sub 2/PuO/sub 2/ fuel elements for the Plutonium Recycle Test Reictor. A tungsten-arc, inert-gas, circumferential head weld is made in a static helium atmosphere using a direct current, rectifier-type welding machine. Destructive tests resulted in failures in the fuel cladding material with no failures occurring at the weld. Seven-rod clusters with swageable end caps were irradiated successfully in the ETR and 19-rod clusters are being irradiated in the PRTR. (auth)

Research Organization:
General Electric Co. Hanford Atomic Products Operation, Richland, Wash.
DOE Contract Number:
AT(45-1)-1350
NSA Number:
NSA-17-004237
OSTI ID:
4742991
Report Number(s):
HW-74287
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English