Irradiation performance of AGR-1 high temperature reactor fuel

•Post-irradiation examination was performed on AGR-1 coated particle fuel.•Cesium release from the particles was very low in the absence of failed SiC layers.•Silver release was often substantial, and varied considerably with temperature.•Buffer and IPyC layers were found to play a key role in TRISO...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear engineering and design 2016-09, Vol.306, p.2-13
Main Authors: Demkowicz, Paul A., Hunn, John D., Ploger, Scott A., Morris, Robert N., Baldwin, Charles A., Harp, Jason M., Winston, Philip L., Gerczak, Tyler J., van Rooyen, Isabella J., Montgomery, Fred C., Silva, Chinthaka M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coating
Compacts
Failure
Fuels
high temperature gas-cooled reactor
Irradiation
irradiation performance
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
Nuclear fuels
Palladium
post-irradiation examination
Silicon carbide
TRISO
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Summary:•Post-irradiation examination was performed on AGR-1 coated particle fuel.•Cesium release from the particles was very low in the absence of failed SiC layers.•Silver release was often substantial, and varied considerably with temperature.•Buffer and IPyC layers were found to play a key role in TRISO coating behavior.•Fission products palladium and silver were found in the SiC layer of particles. The AGR-1 experiment contained 72 low-enriched uranium oxide/uranium carbide TRISO coated particle fuel compacts in six capsules irradiated to burnups of 11.2 to 19.6% FIMA, with zero TRISO coating failures detected during the irradiation. The irradiation performance of the fuel including the extent of fission product release and the evolution of kernel and coating microstructures was evaluated based on detailed examination of the irradiation capsules, the fuel compacts, and individual particles. Fractional release of 110mAg from the fuel compacts was often significant, with capsule-average values ranging from 0.01 to 0.38. Analysis of silver release from individual compacts indicated that it was primarily dependent on fuel temperature history. Europium and strontium were released in small amounts through intact coatings, but were found to be significantly retained in the outer pyrocarbon and compact matrix. The capsule-average fractional release from the compacts was 1×10−4 to 5×10−4 for 154Eu and 8×10−7 to 3×10−5 for 90Sr. The average 134Cs fractional release from compacts was
ISSN:0029-5493
1872-759X
DOI:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.09.011