Microstructural evolution of U(Mo)–Al(Si) dispersion fuel under irradiation – Destructive analyses of the LEONIDAS E-FUTURE plates

Leenaers, A.; Berghe, S. Van den; Eyken, J. Van; Koonen, E.; Charollais, F.; Lemoine, P.; Calzavara, Y.; Guyon, Hervé; Jarousse, C.; Geslin, D.; Wachs, D. M.; Keiser, Dennis D.; Robinson, Adam; Hofman, G.L.; Kim, Y.S.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.06.027

Cited by 44 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…4A. These values are in good agreement with those measured in the IDL inside U-Mo/Al-Si fuel plates irradiated in close temperature conditions but with a higher surface power and up to a higher burn-up [17].…”

Section: Post Irradiation Experiments (Pie)supporting

confidence: 87%

“…The matrix was either pure Al or Al with a Si addition (Al-Si). The first goal of the IRIS4 experiment was to evaluate the interest of this ''oxide'' solution, and the second was to check whether this potentially beneficial effect could be cumulated with the well-established influence of Si addition to the Al matrix [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Annealing tests of in-pile irradiated oxide coated U–Mo/Al–Si dispersed nuclear fuel

Zweifel¹,

Valot²,

Pontillon³

et al. 2014

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. a b s t r a c t U-Mo/Al based nuclear fuels have been worldwide considered as a promising high density fuel for the conversion of high flux research reactors from highly enriched uranium to lower enrichment. In this paper, we present the annealing test up to 1800 °C of in-pile irradiated U-Mo/Al-Si fuel plate samples. More than 70% of the fission gases (FGs) are released during two major FG release peaks around 500 °C and 670 °C. Additional characterisations of the samples by XRD, EPMA and SEM suggest that up to 500 °C FGs are released from IDL/matrix interfaces. The second peak at 670 °C representing the main release of FGs originates from the interaction between U-Mo and matrix in the vicinity of the cladding.

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Section: Post Irradiation Experiments (Pie)supporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annealing tests of in-pile irradiated oxide coated U–Mo/Al–Si dispersed nuclear fuel

Zweifel¹,

Valot²,

Pontillon³

et al. 2014

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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“…Two very high power tests were conducted at BR2 using high Si matrix designs. The E-FUTURE-1 test [33,43] used Al-4Si and Al-6Si matrix designs where plate pillowing was observed in the highest power regions of the plates. The E-FUTURE-2 test [44]used a very high silicon content matrix design (Al-8Si and Al-12Si) to evaluate the limits of the silicon effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swelling of U-7Mo/Al-Si dispersion fuel plates under irradiation – Non-destructive analysis of the AFIP-1 fuel plates

Wachs

Robinson

Rice

et al. 2016

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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Extensive fuel-matrix interactions leading to plate pillowing have proven to be a significant impediment to the development of a suitable high density low-enriched uranium molybdenum alloy (U-Mo) based dispersion fuel for high power applications in research reactors. The addition of silicon to the aluminum matrix was previously demonstrated to reduce interaction layer growth in mini-plate experiments. The AFIP-1 project involved the irradiation, in-canal examination, and post-irradiation examination of twofuel plates. The irradiation of two distinct full size, flat fuel plates (one using an Al-2wt%Simatrix and the other an Al-4043 (~4.8wt% Si) matrix) was performed in the INL ATR reactor in 2008-2009. The irradiation conditions were: ~250W/cm 2 peak Beginning Of Life (BOL) power, with a ~3.5e21 f/cm 3 peak burnup. The plates were successfully irradiated and did not show any pillowing at the end of the irradiation. This paper reports the results and interpretation of the in-canal and post-irradiation non-destructive examinations that were performed on these fuel plates. It further compares additional PIE results obtained on fuel plates irradiated in contemporary campaigns in order to allow a complete comparison with all results obtained under similar conditions. Except for a brief indication of accelerated swelling early in the irradiation of the Al-2Si plate, the fuel swelling is shown to evolve linearly with the fission density through the maximum burnup.

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“…Un núcleo compuesto por partículas de U(Mo) dispersas en una matriz Al-Si es una de las configuraciones más prometedoras para cumplir con la calificación de este combustible, en configuración dispersa [4], ya que se han obtenido resultados satisfactorios en algunas experiencias de irradiación [5]. Los ensayos post-irradiación junto con el análisis de las correspondientes placas sin irradiar, mostraron que el buen comportamiento se correlaciona con la formación, durante la fabricación, de una "zona de interacción (ZI) apropiada" alrededor de las partículas U(Mo) [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Fases identificables en la zona de interacción de placas combustibles dispersas U3Si2/Al

et al. 2018

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RESUMENLos elementos combustibles dispersos fabricados con partículas de U 3 Si 2 inmersas en una matriz de Al puro han mostrado a lo largo de los años un comportamiento muy estable bajo irradiación, en particular, en una configuración conocida como tipo placa. Estos combustibles han sido, o están siendo, usados para disminuir el enriquecimiento del U del núcleo de un gran número de reactores de investigación en todo el mundo sin que esto comprometa su rendimiento. En este sentido, resulta lícito extender este buen comportamiento a los compuestos formables por interdifusión entre el siliciuro y el Al durante la fabricación.Por otro lado, en estos últimos años se ha invertido un gran esfuerzo en calificar un combustible de mayor densidad como lo son las aleaciones U(Mo). Con este objetivo, placas o miniplacas con núcleos formados por partículas de U(Mo) dispersas en una matriz de Al(Si) están siendo estudiadas internacionalmente. Los estudios post-irradiación realizados sobre placas que atravesaron satisfactoriamente los ensayos de irradiación, junto con placas de referencia analizadas luego del proceso de fabricación, mostraron que este buen comportamiento está asociado a la formación (durante la fabricación) de una zona de interacción formada por fases ricas en Si ubicada rodeando a las partículas de U(Mo).En este trabajo, dos placas fabricadas con partículas U 3 Si 2 dispersadas en una matriz de Al puro fueron estudiadas luego del proceso de fabricación mediante microscopías óptica y electrónica de barrido, microanálisis dispersivo en longitud de onda y difracción de rayos X. Los resultados muestran la formación del compuesto U(Al,Si) 3 junto con otra fase de igual estructura cristalina que el compuesto U 3 Si 2 pero con diferente volumen de celda. Esta información resultaría importante para la calificación del U(Mo) a la hora de seleccionar la matriz Al(Si) que promueva la formación de lo que podría considerarse "una zona de interacción adecuada".Palabras clave: Combustibles nucleares, uranio, identificación de fases. ABSTRACTFuel elements based on U 3 Si 2 particles dispersed in a pure Al matrix (known as dispersion fuel element) are known to be very stable under irradiation, in plate type configurations. For this reason, they were or are being used to convert to low enriched uranium a large number of research reactors without significant loss in performance. According to this statement it is perfectly lawful to extend this good irradiation performance to

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Microstructural evolution of U(Mo)–Al(Si) dispersion fuel under irradiation – Destructive analyses of the LEONIDAS E-FUTURE plates

Cited by 44 publications

References 7 publications

Annealing tests of in-pile irradiated oxide coated U–Mo/Al–Si dispersed nuclear fuel

Annealing tests of in-pile irradiated oxide coated U–Mo/Al–Si dispersed nuclear fuel

Swelling of U-7Mo/Al-Si dispersion fuel plates under irradiation – Non-destructive analysis of the AFIP-1 fuel plates

Fases identificables en la zona de interacción de placas combustibles dispersas U3Si2/Al

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