Irradiation Behavior of Unencapsulated EBR-II Mark-II Driver Fuel to a Maximum Burnupof 6 at. %

Technical Report · Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7348304· OSTI ID:7348304

Hofman, G. L. ^[1]; Beck, W. N. ^[1]; Strain, R. V. ^[1]; Hayner, G. O. ^[2]; Walter, C. M. ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
2. Argonne National Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

An advanced driver-fuel design (Mark II) for Experimental Breeder Reactor No. II (EBR-II) has been tested in EBR-II to a peak burnup of 6 at. percent. All the approximately 550 elements used in this test contained as fuel an alloy of metallic uranium, enriched to 64 percent in ²³⁵U, and 5 wt percent of stable metallic fission products (called ''fissium''). About half the elements were clad with annealed Type 304 L stainless steel, and half with annealed Type 316 stainless steel. All were unencapsulated. The irradiation conditions for the test were similar to those envisioned for production driver elements. No cladding failures or abnormal behavior of the elements were experienced, and the design, in general, behaved as predicted. The elements using Type 316 stainless steel as cladding were judged superior based on greater dimensional stability and lower chemical interaction of fuel and cladding.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38; W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 7348304
• Report Number(s): ANL--8119
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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