8 x 8 fuel surveillance program: pre-irradiation characterization, Monticello fuel assembly, December 1974

The two fuel assemblies are vehicles for providing specific irradiation performance data as part of the lead 8 x 8 fuel reload groups in two reactors. This report describes the pre-irradiation characterizations performed on selected fuel rods from the bundle inserted into the Monticello reactor. The eleven selected fuel rods from the bundle were measured for overall bow, overall length, and profiled for diameter (helical and axial at 0, 45, 90 and 135 degrees). The rods were also neutron radiographed and the cladding was ultrasonically tested. The assembled bundle was measured for rod-to-rod spacing, spacer-to-spacer distance, and spacer perpendicularity. The fuel bundle, MTB099 (2.62% bundle average enrichment), was loaded into Northern States Power's Monticello reactor as part of a reload batch for relatively high power operation. Bundle MTB099 was inserted in Position 37-30 for Cycle 3. Cycle 3 startup was in May 1974