Conceptual Design for the Handling and Remote Disassembly of the Fuel Element Failure Propagation Loop at the Hfef.

Abstract

The Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) was assigned the remote disassembly and examination of the Fuel Element Failure Propagation (FEFP) loops. These loops, containing bundles of fast-reactor fuel elements, will be irradiated in the Engineering Test Reactor to obtain information on failure propagation in this type of fuel. A detailed preliminary plan and procedure h?ve been developed by the HFEF staff for handling, disassembling, and examining the irradiated loops. The concepts developed meet the functional criteria established by the FEFP Project in the System Design Description. The disassembly and examination will be performed in the HFEF/N main cell, which is large enough to accommodate a loop in the vertical position. The equipment to be added to HFEF/N for the handling of the FEFP loop will include a loop-insertion cell, support structures for the loop and test train, a tube heater, several cutting machines, and many disassembly and examination fixtures.

Inerting Strategy for a Demonstration-Scale Hot Cell Facility Based on Experiences from Pilot-Scale Argon Cell Facility Operation and CFD Analysis

“…erefore, PRIDE has a two-way argon delivery system for initial purging and regular operation. In the typical operation case, the port of the upper part of the cell becomes the [13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…Facility names FCF [13,14] HFEF [15,16] ACPF [17,18] PRIDE [19] Target inlet, and the lower part of the cell becomes the outlet for the weight of argon (Figures 3 and 4). However, for an efficient initial purging of the cell space, the argon was supplied from the bottom outlet ports.…”