Final report of fuel dynamics Test E7

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5197945· OSTI ID:5197945

Doerner, R C; Murphy, W F; Stanford, G S; Froehle, P H

Test data from an in-pile failure experiment of high-power LMFBR-type fuel pins in a simulated $3/s transient-overpower (TOP) accident are reported and analyzed. Major conclusions are that (1) a series of cladding ruptures during the 100-ms period preceding fuel release injected small bursts of fission gas into the flow stream; (2) gas release influenced subsequent cladding melting and fuel release (there were no measurable FCI's (fuel-coolant interactions), and all fuel motion observed by the hodoscope was very slow); (3) the predominant postfailure fuel motion appears to be radial swelling that left a spongy fuel crust on the holder wall; (4) less than 4 to 6 percent of the fuel moved axially out of the original fuel zone, and most of this froze within a 10-cm region above the original top of the fuel zone to form the outlet blockage. An inlet blockage approximately 1 cm long was formed and consisted of large interconnected void regions. Both blockages began just beyond the ends of the fuel pellets.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Ill. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5197945
• Report Number(s): ANL-77-25; TRN: 78-003721
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
EXCURSIONS
FUEL ELEMENT FAILURE
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
FLOW BLOCKAGE
MELTDOWN
TRANSIENTS
ACCIDENTS
BREEDER REACTORS
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210500 - Power Reactors
Breeding