EDN: LQUMVS
Authors & Affiliations
Porollo S.I., Ivanov A.A., Shulepin S.V.
A.I. Leypunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia
Porollo S.I. – Leading Researcher, Cand. Sci. (Tech.). Contacts: 1, pl. Bondarenko, Obninsk, Kaluga region, Russia, 249033. Tel: +7 (484) 399-70-00 (add. 87-08); e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ivanov A.A. – Head of Laboratory.
Shulepin S.V. – Head of Department.
Abstract
Post-irradiation studies of experimental fuel assemblies with uranium dioxide fuel were conducted after irradiation in the BN-600 reactor to a maximum burnup of 11.5 % h.a. The tested fuel assemblies had a standard design and consisted of a hexagonal wrapper made of EP-450 ferritic-martensitic grade and a bundle of 127 fuel pins with 6.9×0.4 mm cladding made of ChS-68 austenitic steel in a 20 % cold-deformed state. Irradiation of the experimental fuel assemblies in the BN-600 reactor core was conducted from the 12th to the 19th microcampaign. The irradiation duration ranged from 311 to 542 effective days. Irradiation was found to result in a restructuring of the original fuel structure, with the formation of a zone of columnar grains and a change in the size of the central hole. Over most of the core's length, the diameter of the central hole increased, but in the upper and lower parts of the core, the diameter of the central hole was smaller than the original. This axial change in the central hole size is a characteristic feature of axial fuel mass transfer. Swelling of the uranium dioxide leads to an increase in the diameter of the fuel pellets in the central part of the core, but the gap between the fuel and the cladding does not decrease due to void swelling of the cladding. In the upper parts of the fuel rods, the gap between the fuel and the cladding is close to the original. The condition of the fuel pins after reaching maximum burn-up under linear fuel pin loads during the initial irradiation period of 47.7—52.0 kW/cm is satisfactory. To extend the performance of the fuel pins, it is necessary to improve the radiation resistance of the fuel pin cladding material, primarily by ensuring the necessary strength margin for the fuel pin cladding material at high burn-up and damage doses.
Keywords
uranium dioxide, fuel cladding, swelling, fission products, burn-up, fast reactor, microstructure, core, damaging dose, neutron irradiation
Article Text (PDF, in Russian)
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UDC 621.039.531
Problems of Atomic Science and Technology. Series: Nuclear and Reactor Constants, 2026, no. 2, 2:12
