• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.365-374
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• 2001

In order to examine the in-reactor performance of very-high-density dispersion fuels for high flux performance research reactors, U-l0wt.%Mo microplates containing centrifugally atomized powder were irradiated at low temperature. The U-l0wt.%Mo dispersion fuels show stable in- reactor irradiation behaviors even at high burn-up, similar to U$_3$Si$_2$ dispersion fuels. The atomized U-l0wt.%Mo fuel particles have a fine and a relatively uniform fission gas bubble size distribution. Moreover, only one of third of the area of the atomized fuel cross-sections at 70a1.% burn-up shows fission gas bubble-free zones, This appears to be the result of segregation into high Mo and low Mo.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.169-182
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• 2014

High-performance research reactors require fuel that operates at high specific power to high fission density, but at relatively low temperatures. Research reactor fuels are designed for efficient heat rejection, and are composed of assemblies of thin-plates clad in aluminum alloy. The development of low-enriched fuels to replace high-enriched fuels for these reactors requires a substantially increased uranium density in the fuel to offset the decrease in enrichment. Very few fuel phases have been identified that have the required combination of very-high uranium density and stable fuel behavior at high burnup. U-Mo alloys represent the best known tradeoff in these properties. Testing of aluminum matrix U-Mo aluminum matrix dispersion fuel revealed a pattern of breakaway swelling behavior at intermediate burnup, related to the formation of a molybdenum stabilized high aluminum intermetallic phase that forms during irradiation. In the case of monolithic fuel, this issue was addressed by eliminating, as much as possible, the interfacial area between U-Mo and aluminum. Based on scoping irradiation test data, a fuel plate system composed of solid U-10Mo fuel meat, a zirconium diffusion barrier, and Al6061 cladding was selected for development. Developmental testing of this fuel system indicates that it meets core criteria for fuel qualification, including stable and predictable swelling behavior, mechanical integrity to high burnup, and geometric stability. In addition, the fuel exhibits robust behavior during power-cooling mismatch events under irradiation at high power.