Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2005 International RERTR Meeting

EFFECT OF REACTION PHASE GROWTH ON THE IRRADIATION PERFORMANCE OF ROD-TYPE U-MO/AL DISPERSION FUEL

Ho Jin Ryu*, Jong Man Park, Hee Taek Chae, Chang Kyu Kim
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute
150 Doekjin-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-353, Korea

and

Yeon Soo Kim, Gerard L. Hofman
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S.Cass Ave. Argonne, IL 60439, USA

ABSTRACT

Interdiffusional reaction phase between U-Mo fuel particles and an Al matrix is known to degrade thermal properties of a U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel. Coupled with high power ratings and geometry, reaction phase growth in a rod-type dispersion fuel has more influence than in a plate type fuel. The feed-back effect between reaction phase growth and degradation of thermal properties and in turn fuel temperature increase for rod-type dispersion fuels were investigated. Radial temperature distribution due to reaction phase growth during irradiation was calculated iteratively by varying fission density, reaction phase volume fraction, thermal conductivity, and oxide thickness with burnup. Microstructural evolution estimated based on temperature calculations showed a reasonable agreement with the PIE results for rod-type U-Mo/Al dispersion fuels irradiated in the HANARO reactor under various power histories. The fuel particle size was revealed to be a dominant factor that determined the fuel temperature. For an average fuel particle size smaller than 75 μm an undesirable temperature jump that can lead to melting of the Al matrix was predicted, whereas for a fuel particle size larger than 150 μm the fuel temperature gradually decreased toward the end of life without a breakaway temperature increase.

* On assignment to ANL ()

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