IFR safety tests M2 and M3 in TREAT: data and analysis
TREAT tests M2 and M3 were performed to obtain information on the characteristics of metal-alloy reactor fuel under slow transient overpower accident conditions, in particular, the margin to cladding breach and the axial self-extrusion of fuel within intact cladding. The tests used U-5Fs fuel pins irradiated to burnup levels of 0.3 at. %, 4.5 at. % and 7.9 at. %. Each pin was located in a separte flowtube and cooled by flowing sodium. In one test, a pin of each burnup was heated to incipient cladding breach. In the other, pins of the medium and high burnup levels wer heated to slightly beyond breach. Pre- and post-failure fuel motions were monitored by the fast-neutron hodoscope. The time and axial location of cladding breach were determined from the test-loop instrumentation. Computations of fuel extrusion and cladding failure are desribed. The models used in the computations include effects of retained fission gas expansion, vaporization of the sodium-bond annulus in low burnup fuel, and cladding-wall thinning by eutectic formation.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 712225
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-IFR--18; ON: TI85028591
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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