Development of Be/sub 2/C--graphite--UC/sub 2/ fuel for pulsed reactors

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6901355

Marion, R H; Muenzer, W A

A recent program to upgrade the Annular Core Pulsed Reactor (ACPR) at Sandia Laboratories resulted in the development of UO/sub 2/-BeO and (U,Zr)C-graphite fuels for pulsed reactor applications. The work described in the paper is an attempt to develop a fuel which is superior to either of these in a pulsed reactor environment. The main fuel requirements are high volumetric enthalpy (to absorb the nuclear pulse without excessive temperature rise), high thermal stress resistance (to withstand the thermal stresses caused by the radial temperature gradient during the 2 to 5 ms risetime pulse), and a simple pellet geometry. The fuel is a right circular cylinder whose outer diameter is 33.0 mm.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant (Y-12), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-04-0789
• OSTI ID: 6901355
• Report Number(s): SAND-78-0227C; CONF-780622-13; TRN: 78-019711
• Resource Relation: Conference: ANS annual meeting, San Diego, CA, USA, 18 Jun 1978
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACPR REACTOR
FUEL PELLETS
BERYLLIUM CARBIDES
FABRICATION
URANIUM CARBIDES
DESIGN
GRAPHITE
MATRIX MATERIALS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BERYLLIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBIDES
CARBON
CARBON COMPOUNDS
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
HYDRIDE MODERATED REACTORS
MIXED SPECTRUM REACTORS
NONMETALS
PELLETS
PULSED REACTORS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
RESEARCH REACTORS
SOLID HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
220600* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
360201 - Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories- Preparation & Fabrication