The behavior of breached boiling water reactor fuel rods on long-term exposure to air and argon at 598 K

Journal Article · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985 · Nucl. Technol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6497553

Kohli, R; Gilbert, E R; Johnson, A B; Pasupathi, V; Stahl, D

Two irradiated boiling water reactor fuel rods with breached cladding were exposed to argon and to air at 598 K for 7.56 Ms (2100 h). These tests were conducted to determine fuel swelling and cladding crack propagation under conditions that promote UO/sub 2/ fuel oxidation and to observe the behavior of water-logged breached fuel in an inert gas environment. The two rods were selected for testing after extensive hot cell examination had shown the cladding of both rods to be breached with several centimetres of open cracks; the cracks were characterized in detail before the test. As part of the experiment, the amount of the readily removable water contained in the fuel rods was determined. To oxidize the fuel to a significant level ( about10%), the air in the annealine capsule was replenished approximately daily. The depletion of oxygen available in the air capsule due to fuel oxidation occurred in about0.036 Ms (10 h). At the end of the test period, about6% of the fuel is estimated to have oxidized. Posttest examination of the rods showed that cladding degradation resulted from swelling due to oxidation of the fuel in the air environment. The cladding degradation was localized and fuel oxidation did not measurably extend beyond the cladding breach. No cladding degradation was measurable in the breached fuel rod tested in argon.

• Research Organization: Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, OH
• OSTI ID: 6497553
• Journal Information: Nucl. Technol.; (United States), Journal Name: Nucl. Technol.; (United States) Vol. 69:2; ISSN NUTYB
• 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
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
ACCIDENTS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
AIR
ARGON
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRACK PROPAGATION
DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
ELEMENTS
FAILURES
FLUIDS
FUEL ELEMENT FAILURE
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL RODS
FUEL-CLADDING INTERACTIONS
GASES
MATERIALS TESTING
NONMETALS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RARE GASES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RUPTURES
SATURATION
SWELLING
TESTING
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANIUM OXIDES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
WATER SATURATION