LWRS Fuels Pathway: Engineering Design and Fuels Pathway Initial Testing of the Hot Water Corrosion System

Dr. John Garnier ; Dr. Kevin McHugh

关键词: fuel clad + hot water + corrosion + thermal stress;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1070120
RP-ID  :  INL/EXT-12-27172
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1070120

学科分类：核能源与工程

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The Advanced LWR Nuclear Fuel Development R&D pathway performs strategic research focused on cladding designs leading to improved reactor core economics and safety margins. The research performed is to demonstrate the nuclear fuel technology advancements while satisfying safety and regulatory limits. These goals are met through rigorous testing and analysis. The nuclear fuel technology developed will assist in moving existing nuclear fuel technology to an improved level that would not be practical by industry acting independently. Strategic mission goals are to improve the scientific knowledge basis for understanding and predicting fundamental nuclear fuel and cladding performance in nuclear power plants, and to apply this information in the development of high-performance, high burn-up fuels. These will result in improved safety, cladding, integrity, and nuclear fuel cycle economics. To achieve these goals various methods for non-irradiated characterization testing of advanced cladding systems are needed. One such new test system is the Hot Water Corrosion System (HWCS) designed to develop new data for cladding performance assessment and material behavior under simulated off-normal reactor conditions. The HWCS is capable of exposing prototype rodlets to heated, high velocity water at elevated pressure for long periods of time (days, weeks, months). Water chemistry (dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pH) is continuously monitored. In addition, internal rodlet heaters inserted into cladding tubes are used to evaluate repeated thermal stressing and heat transfer characteristics of the prototype rodlets. In summary, the HWCS provides rapid ex-reactor evaluation of cladding designs in normal (flowing hot water) and off-normal (induced cladding stress), enabling engineering and manufacturing improvements to cladding designs before initiation of the more expensive and time consuming in-reactor irradiation testing.