Fission gas release during power bumping at high burnup

Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1990 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5779252

Cunningham, M E; Freshley, M D; Lanning, D D ^[1]

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1. Battelle Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

Research to define the behavior of Zircaloy-clad light water reactor fuel irradiated to high burnup levels has been conducted by the High Burnup Effects Program (HBEP), an international, group-sponsored research effort conducted by Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories. One activity conducted by the HBEP was to investigate fission gas release (FGR) from commercially irradiated pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel rods subjected to bumping irradiations, i.e., short-duration high-power irradiations to simulate an end-of-life (EOL) power increase. The principal conclusion that may be reached from these observations is that increasing the burnup from 25 to 45 MWd/kg M for these rods increased FGR during the EOL LHGR increase. This is supported by the greater net bumping FGR for the 45 MWd/kg M group than for the 25 MWd/kg M rod group. The increase in fractional FGR with burnup is assumed to be principally due to the fission gas being in a more releasable condition because of the increased burnup; e.g., a greater fraction of the gas is in grain boundary bubbles at higher burnup levels.

• OSTI ID: 5779252
• Report Number(s): CONF-910603--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 63; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
ALLOYS
BATTELLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABORATORIES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BUBBLES
BURNUP
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
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FISSION PRODUCT RELEASE
FUEL CANS
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL RODS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IRRADIATION
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
KRYPTON 85
KRYPTON ISOTOPES
MICROSEC LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MICROSTRUCTURE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
POWER DENSITY
POWER REACTORS
PULSED IRRADIATION
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
THERMAL REACTORS
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZIRCALOY
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS
ZIRCONIUM BASE ALLOYS