Experience with advanced driver fuels in EBR-II
- Argonne National Lab.-West, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) is a complete nuclear power plant, incorporating a pool-type liquid-metal reactor (LMR) with a fuel-power thermal output of 62.5 MW and an electrical output of 20 MW. Initial criticality was in 1961, utilizing a metallic driver fuel design called the Mark-I. The fuel design has evolved over the last 30 yr, and significant progress has been made on improving performance. The first major innovations were incorporated into the Mark-II design, and burnup then increased dramatically. This design performed successfully, and fuel element lifetime was limited by subassembly hardware performance rather than the fuel element itself. Transient performance of the fuel was also acceptable and demonstrated the ability of EBR-II to survive severe upsets such as a loss of flow without scram. In the mid 1980s, with renewed interest in metallic fuels and Argonne's integral fast reactor (IFR) concept, the Mark-II design was used as the basis for new designs, the Mark-III and Mark-IV. In 1987, the Mark-III design began qualification testing to become a driver fuel for EBR-II. This was followed in 1989 by the Mark-IIIA and Mark-IV designs. The next fuel design, the Mark-V, is being planned to demonstrate the utilization of recycled fuel. The fuel cycle facility attached to EBR-II is being refurbished to produce pyroprocessed recycled fuel as part of the demonstration of the IFR.
- OSTI ID:
- 6660880
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921102--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 66; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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220600* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
BREEDER REACTORS
DESIGN
EBR-2 REACTOR
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE CENTERS
FUEL ELEMENTS
IFR REACTOR
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE TESTING
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS
TESTING
ZERO POWER REACTORS