Irradiation Behavior of UO2/PuO2Fuel in Light Water Reactors
- 1 April 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Nuclear Technology
- Vol. 102 (1) , 29-46
- https://doi.org/10.13182/nt93-a34800
Abstract
Recycling of plutonium in light water reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany began in 1966, and through the subsequent years, has reached a commercial state. Irradiation programs and postirradiation examinations (PIEs) of modern, highly soluble mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel of the ammonium uranyl plutonyl carbonate/optimized co-milling type have been carried out since 1981 to evaluate fuel performance and to verify the data base for design.The results of PIEs on MOX fuel rods with burnups ranging from 6 to 47 G Wd/tonne heavy metal are described. The dimensional behavior of the MOX fuel rods is found to be almost identical to that of UO2 fuel rods. Densification and swelling of MOX fuel are governed by the behavior of the UO2 matrix as well as the porosity that develops in the MOX agglomerates.Little uranium-plutonium interdiffusion occurs in MOX fuel irradiated under normal power reactor conditions, but substantial redistribution is found in the high-temperature region of transient-tested fuel. Fis...Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Irradiation behaviour of MOX fuel: Results of an EPMA investigationNuclear Engineering and Design, 1991
- Survey of the power ramp performance testing of KWU'S PWR UO2, fuelJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1987
- Development of Thermal Plutonium RecyclingNuclear Technology, 1987
- The radial distribution of fission gases and other fission products in irradiated PWR fuelJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1984
- Determination of xenon concentrations in nuclear fuels by electron microprobe analysisJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1980
- The chemical state of LWR high-power rods under irradiationJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1979
- The matrix swelling rate of UO2Journal of Nuclear Materials, 1977
- The effect of plutonium content on the thermal conductivity of (U, Pu)O2 solid solutionsJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1971
- The solid-liquid phase diagram for the UO2-PuO2 systemJournal of Nuclear Materials, 1967