Performance of fast reactor mixed-oxide fuels pins during extended overpower transients

Conference · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5525133

Tsai, H; Neimark, L A ^[1]; Asaga, T; Shikakura, S ^[2]

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
2. Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

The Operational Reliability Testing (ORT) program, a collaborative effort between the US Department of Energy and the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC) of Japan, was initiated in 1982 to investigate the behavior of mixed-oxide fuel pin under various slow-ramp transient and duty-cycle conditions. In the first phase of the program, a series of four extended overpower transient tests, with severity sufficient to challenge the pin cladding integrity, was conducted. The objectives of the designated TOPI-1A through -1D tests were to establish the cladding breaching threshold and mechanisms, and investigate the thermal and mechanical effects of the transient on pin behavior. The tests were conducted in EBR-2, a normally steady-state reactor. The modes of transient operation in EBR-2 were described in a previous paper. Two ramp rates, 0.1%/s and 10%/s, were selected to provide a comparison of ramp-rate effects on fuel behavior. The test pins chosen for the series covered a range of design and pre-test irradiation parameters. In the first test (1A), all pins maintained their cladding integrity during the 0.1%/s ramp to 60% peak overpower. Fuel pins with aggressive designs, i.e., high fuel- smear density and/or thin cladding, were, therefore, included in the follow-up 1B and 1C tests to enhance the likelihood of achieving cladding breaching. In the meantime, a higher pin overpower capability, to greater than 100%, was established by increasing the reactor power limit from 62.5 to 75 MWt. In this paper, the significant results of the 1B and 1C tests are presented. 4 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5525133
• Report Number(s): ANL/CP-69231; CONF-910817--15; ON: DE91015681
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
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ACCIDENTS
BREEDER REACTORS
COOPERATION
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EBR-2 REACTOR
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXCURSIONS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAILURES
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL PINS
FUELS
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
JAPANESE ORGANIZATIONS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
MIXED OXIDE FUELS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
PNC
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RUPTURES
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS
SOLID FUELS
TESTING
TRANSIENTS
USA