Non-destructive analysis of swelling in the EMPIrE fuel test
Abstract
The European Mini-Plate Irradiation Experiment (EMPIrE) was designed to support the development and testing of a coated uranium-molybdenum (U-Mo) dispersion fuel for the conversion of select high-performance research reactors (HPRRs) to utilize low-enriched uranium (LEU). To aid in the development of the coated fuel form, the EMPIrE test included several plate designs and irradiated them in the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at a high meat power density (~21 kW/cm3) and to high fuel particle fission densities (~6.4 × 1021 fissions/cm3). These conditions mimic the bounding conditions of the BR-2 reactor in Belgium, where a concurrent irradiation experiment was performed, and exceed those previously explored in dispersion U-Mo fuel plates. A local fuel swelling analysis, as determined through high-fidelity, post-irradiation mini-plate profilometry, was used along with statistical methods to non-destructively evaluate the overall performance and separate the effects of convoluted fabrication variables. While some effects observed with this non-destructive analysis were subtle, others had more significant, and possibly competing, effects on the fuel swelling behavior. In closing, these observations will be examined further with destructive examinations to more fully assess them as the fuel design is developed and qualified.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1];
[2];
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Belgian Nuclear Research Center (SCK-CEN), Mol (Belgium)
- Framatome (France)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Counter-terrorism and Counter-nonproliferation
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1915448
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1960833
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; AC07-05ID14517
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Nuclear Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 564; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; U-Mo dispersion fuel; fuel swelling; non-destructive examination; post-irradiation examination; lowenriched uranium; research reactor fuel
Citation Formats
Hanson, William A., Robinson, Adam B., Lybeck, Nancy J., Nielsen, Joseph W., Ye, Bei, Mei, Zhi-Gang, Keiser Jr., Dennis D., Jamison, Laura M., Hofman, Gerard L., Yacout, Abdellatif M., Leenaers, Ann, Stepnik, Bertrand, and Glagolenko, Irina Y. Non-destructive analysis of swelling in the EMPIrE fuel test. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153683.
Hanson, William A., Robinson, Adam B., Lybeck, Nancy J., Nielsen, Joseph W., Ye, Bei, Mei, Zhi-Gang, Keiser Jr., Dennis D., Jamison, Laura M., Hofman, Gerard L., Yacout, Abdellatif M., Leenaers, Ann, Stepnik, Bertrand, & Glagolenko, Irina Y. Non-destructive analysis of swelling in the EMPIrE fuel test. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153683
Hanson, William A., Robinson, Adam B., Lybeck, Nancy J., Nielsen, Joseph W., Ye, Bei, Mei, Zhi-Gang, Keiser Jr., Dennis D., Jamison, Laura M., Hofman, Gerard L., Yacout, Abdellatif M., Leenaers, Ann, Stepnik, Bertrand, and Glagolenko, Irina Y. Fri .
"Non-destructive analysis of swelling in the EMPIrE fuel test". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153683. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1915448.
@article{osti_1915448,
title = {Non-destructive analysis of swelling in the EMPIrE fuel test},
author = {Hanson, William A. and Robinson, Adam B. and Lybeck, Nancy J. and Nielsen, Joseph W. and Ye, Bei and Mei, Zhi-Gang and Keiser Jr., Dennis D. and Jamison, Laura M. and Hofman, Gerard L. and Yacout, Abdellatif M. and Leenaers, Ann and Stepnik, Bertrand and Glagolenko, Irina Y.},
abstractNote = {The European Mini-Plate Irradiation Experiment (EMPIrE) was designed to support the development and testing of a coated uranium-molybdenum (U-Mo) dispersion fuel for the conversion of select high-performance research reactors (HPRRs) to utilize low-enriched uranium (LEU). To aid in the development of the coated fuel form, the EMPIrE test included several plate designs and irradiated them in the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at a high meat power density (~21 kW/cm3) and to high fuel particle fission densities (~6.4 × 1021 fissions/cm3). These conditions mimic the bounding conditions of the BR-2 reactor in Belgium, where a concurrent irradiation experiment was performed, and exceed those previously explored in dispersion U-Mo fuel plates. A local fuel swelling analysis, as determined through high-fidelity, post-irradiation mini-plate profilometry, was used along with statistical methods to non-destructively evaluate the overall performance and separate the effects of convoluted fabrication variables. While some effects observed with this non-destructive analysis were subtle, others had more significant, and possibly competing, effects on the fuel swelling behavior. In closing, these observations will be examined further with destructive examinations to more fully assess them as the fuel design is developed and qualified.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153683},
journal = {Journal of Nuclear Materials},
number = ,
volume = 564,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Fri Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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