Performance of U-Pu-Zr fuel cast into zirconium molds

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6983298

Crawford, D C; Lahm, C E ^[1]; Tsai, H ^[2]

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1. Argonne National Lab.-West, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
2. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

Current fabrication techniques for the integral fast reactor (IFR) fuel utilize injection casting into quartz molds after reprocessing in the IFR fuel cycle facility. The quartz molds are destroyed during the fuel demolding process, and the quartz residue must therefore be treated as contaminated waste. Alternatively, if the fuel can be cast into molds that remain as part of the fuel slugs (i.e., if the fuel can be left inside the molds for irradiation), then the quartz mold contribution to the waste stream can be eliminated. This possibility is being addresssed in an ongoing effort to evaluate the irradiation performance of fuel cast into zirconium sheaths rather than quartz molds. Zirconium was chosen as the sheath material because it is the component of the U-Pu-Zr fuel alloy that raises the alloy solidus temperatures and provides resistance to fuel-cladding chemical interaction (FCCI).

• OSTI ID: 6983298
• Report Number(s): CONF-921102--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 66
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500* -- Power Reactors
Breeding
ALLOY NUCLEAR FUELS
CASTING
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FABRICATION
FAST REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE CENTERS
FUEL-CLADDING INTERACTIONS
FUELS
IFR REACTOR
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLID FUELS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
ZERO POWER REACTORS
ZIRCONIUM