Interaction of fission products and SiC in TRISO fuel particles: a limiting HTGR design parameter

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5569013

Stansfield, O M; Homan, F J; Simon, W A; Turner, R F

The fuel particle system for the steam cycle cogeneration HTGR being developed in the US consists of 20% enriched UC/sub 0/./sub 3/O/sub 1/./sub 7/ and ThO/sub 2/ kernels with TRISO coatings. The reaction of fission products with the SiC coating is the limiting thermochemical coating failure mechanism affecting performance. The attack of the SiC by palladium (Pd) is considered the controlling reaction with systems of either oxide or carbide fuels. The lanthanides, such as cerium, neodymium, and praseodymium, also attack SiC in carbide fuel particles. In reactor design, the time-temperature relationships at local points in the core are used to calculate the depth of SiC-Pd reaction. The depth of penetration into the SiC during service varies with core power density, power distribution, outlet gas temperature, and fuel residence time. These parameters are adjusted in specifying the core design to avoid SiC coating failure.

• Research Organization: GA Technologies, Inc., San Diego, CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AT03-76ET35300
• OSTI ID: 5569013
• Report Number(s): GA-A-17183; ON: DE84001009
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210300* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Graphite Moderated
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
AMOEBA EFFECT
BURNUP
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COATED FUEL PARTICLES
FAILURES
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL PARTICLES
GAS COOLED REACTORS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HTGR TYPE REACTORS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REACTORS
SILICON CARBIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
THORIUM COMPOUNDS
THORIUM OXIDES
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANIUM OXIDES