Updated FY12 Ceramic Fuels Irradiation Test Plan

Nelson, Andrew T.¹ 

[1] Los Alamos National Laboratory

关键词: BURNUP;    CERAMICS;    FUEL CYCLE;    HFIR REACTOR;    IRRADIATION;    NEUTRONS;    ORNL;    PLANNING;    PRODUCTION;    RABBITS;    RESEARCH PROGRAMS;    TESTING;    THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY;    URANIUM DIOXIDE;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1041565
RP-ID  :  LA-UR-12-21655
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1041565
Others  :  TRN: US1202837

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development program is currently devoting resources to study of numerous fuel types with the aim of furthering understanding applicable to a range of reactors and fuel cycles. In FY11, effort within the ceramic fuels campaign focused on planning and preparation for a series of rabbit irradiations to be conducted at the High Flux Isotope Reactor located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The emphasis of these planned tests was to study the evolution of thermal conductivity in uranium dioxide and derivative compositions as a function of damage induced by neutron damage. Current fiscal realities have resulted in a scenario where completion of the planned rabbit irradiations is unlikely. Possibilities for execution of irradiation testing within the ceramic fuels campaign in the next several years will thus likely be restricted to avenues where strong synergies exist both within and outside the Fuel Cycle Research and Development program. Opportunities to augment the interests and needs of modeling, advanced characterization, and other campaigns present the most likely avenues for further work. These possibilities will be pursued with the hope of securing future funding. Utilization of synthetic microstructures prepared to better understand the most relevant actors encountered during irradiation of ceramic fuels thus represents the ceramic fuel campaign's most efficient means to enhance understanding of fuel response to burnup. This approach offers many of the favorable attributes embraced by the Separate Effects Testing paradigm, namely production of samples suitable to study specific, isolated phenomena. The recent success of xenon-imbedded thick films is representative of this approach. In the coming years, this strategy will be expanded to address a wider range of problems in conjunction with use of national user facilities novel characterization techniques to best utilize programmatic resources to support a science-based research program.