Investigation on boron carbide oxidation for nuclear reactor safety: Experiments in highly oxidising conditions

Early phase fuel degradation in Phébus FP: Initiating phenomena of degradation in fuel bundle tests

“…Similar results for the additional hydrogen production due to B 4 C oxidation have been obtained with the BECARRE series of tests performed with B 4 C control rods (Dominguez et al, 2008;Dominguez, 2012). In those tests, the relative magnitude of the releases from the B 4 C material is increased in the global release because there are no other fuel rods to be oxidised as in the Phébus tests.…”

“…It is noteworthy that a similar result has been reported (Haste et al, 2010) in B 4 C tests in the integral QUENCH series (Sepold et al, 2006) performed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in separate-effects tests performed at KIT (BOX facility, Steinbrück, 2005) and in separate-effects tests performed at IRSN Cadarache (the BECARRE series under the International Source Term Programme (ISTP), (Dominguez et al, 2008). The absence of methane for core meltdown accident conditions is of importance for radiological consequences for this type of accident, because a large amount of methane in the containment would favour the production of volatile methyl iodide, a gas which is likely to increase the radioactive iodine releases to the environment in the case of a containment breach.…”

Exploring configurations and properties of boron carbide by first principle

“…Boron carbide (B 4 C) has been a class of materials considered for scientific interest and engineering applications due to the physical and chemical properties [1]. B 4 C has an extensive nuclear application as shielding material, neutron radiation absorbent, neutron detector and control rod in nuclear reactors due to its high neutron absorbing cross-section with self-heal for radiation damage [2][3][4][5][6]. As a p-type semiconductor, B 4 C is identified as a potential candidate material for electronic devices with high operating temperatures [7].…”

Reaction between B4C and austenitic stainless steel in oxidizing atmosphere at temperatures below 1673 K

“…The oxidation of B 4 CeSS melts in steam is investigated and forming CreFe oxide on the surface of SSeB 4 C is observed at 1562 K [5]. A kinetic model of oxidation of B 4 C pellet above 1473 K is reported [6]. Moreover, degradation and oxidation of B 4 CeSSeZry control rods in steam [7,8] were investigated.…”