Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the 1999 International RERTR Meeting
INITIAL ASSESMENT OF RADIATION BEHAVIOR OF
VERY-HIGH-DENSITY
LOW-ENRICHED-URANIUM FUELS*
G. L. Hofman, M.
K. Meyer, J. L. SNELGROVE
M. L. Dietz, R. V. STRAIN, and K-H. KIM*
Argonne
National Laboratory
9700
South Cass Avenue
Argonne,
Illinois 60439-4815 U.S.A.
*Korea
Atomic Energy Research Institute
150,
Dukjin-Dong, Yusong-Ku, Taejon, 305-353, Korea
ABSTRACT
Results from the postirradiation examinations of
microplates irradiated in the RERTR-1 and -2 experiments in the ATR
have shown several binary and ternary U-Mo alloys to be promising candidates
for use in aluminum-based dispersion fuels with uranium densities up to 8 to
9 g/cm3. Ternary alloys
of uranium, niobium, and zirconium performed poorly, however, both in terms of
fuel/matrix reaction and fission-gas-bubble behavior, and have been dropped
from further study. Since irradiation
temperatures achieved in the present experiments (approximately 70°C) are
considerably lower than might be experienced in a high-performance reactor, a
new experiment is being planned with beginning-of-cycle temperatures greater
than 200°C in 8-g U/cm3 fuel.