Continuous Fiber Wound Ceramic Composite (CFCC) for Commercial Water Reactor Fuel. Technical progress report for period ending April 1, 2000
Our program began on August 1, 1999. As of April 1, 2000, the progress has been in materials selection and test planning. Three subcontracts are in place (McDermott Technologies Inc. for continuous fiber reinforced ceramic tubing fabrication, Swales Aerospace for LOCA testing of tubes, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for In Reactor testing of tubes). With regard to materials selection we visited McDermott Technologies Inc. a number of times, including on February 23, 2000 to discuss the Draft Material Selection and Fabrication Report. The changes discussed at this meeting were implemented and the final version of this report is attached (attachment 1). McDermott Technologies Inc. will produce one type of tubing: Alumina oxide (Nextel 610) fiber, a carbon coating (left in place), and alumina-yttria matrix. A potentially desirable CFCC material of silicon carbide fiber with spinel matrix was discussed. That material selection was not adopted primarily due to material availability and cost. Gamma Engineering is exploring the available tube coatings at Northwestern University as a mechanism for reducing the permeability of the tubes, and thus, will use coating as a differentiating factor in the testing of tubing in the LOCA test as well as the In-Reactor Test. The conclusion of the Material Selection and Fabrication Report lists the possible coatings under evaluation. With regard to Test Planning, the MIT and Swales Aerospace have submitted draft Test Plans. MIT is attempting to accommodate an increased number of test specimens by evaluating alternative test configurations. Swales Aerospace held a design review at their facilities on February 24, 2000 and various engineering alternatives and safety issues were addressed. The final Test Plans are not expected until just before testing begins to allow for incorporation of changes during ''dry runs.''
- Research Organization:
- Gamma Engineering Corp., Rockville, MD (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-99SF21887
- OSTI ID:
- 762123
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Apr 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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