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MONOLITHIC FUEL FABRICATION PROCESS DEVELOPMENT AT THE IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY

Conference ·
OSTI ID:946854
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Within the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program directed by the US Department of Energy (DOE), UMo fuel-foils are being developed in an effort to realize high density monolithic fuel plates for use in high-flux research and test reactors. Namely, targeted are reactors that are not amenable to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel conversion via utilization of high density dispersion-based fuels, i.e. 8-9 gU/cc. LEU conversion of reactors having a need for >8-9 gU/cc fuel density will only be possible by way of monolithic fuel forms. The UMo fuel foils under development afford fuel meat density of ~16 gU/cc and thus have the potential to facilitate LEU conversions without any significant reactor-performance penalty. Two primary challenges have been established with respect to UMo monolithic fuel development; namely, fuel element fabrication and in-reactor fuel element performance. Both issues are being addressed concurrently at the Idaho National Laboratory. An overview is provided of the ongoing monolithic UMo fuel development effort at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL); including development of complex/graded fuel foils. Fabrication processes to be discussed include: UMo alloying and casting, foil fabrication via hot rolling, fuel-clad interlayer application via co-rolling and thermal spray processes, clad bonding via Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) and Friction Bonding (FB), and fuel plate finishing.
Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE - NNSA
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-99ID13727
OSTI ID:
946854
Report Number(s):
INL/CON-08-14550
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
BONDING
CASTING
ENRICHED URANIUM
FABRICATION
FRICTION
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL PLATES
Fabrication
Fuel
HOT PRESSING
Monolithic
PERFORMANCE
Process Development
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
ROLLING
UMo