Fission gas release behavior in high burnup UO₂ fuels with developed rim-structure

The effect of rim structure formation and external restraint pressure on fission gas release at transient conditions has been examined by using an out-of-pile high pressure heating technique for high burnup UO₂ fuels (60, 74 and 90 GWd/t), which had been irradiated in test reactors. The latter two fuels bore a developed rim structure. The maximum heating temperature was 1500 degC, and the external pressures were independently controlled in the range of 10-150 MPa. The present high burnup fuel data were compared with those of previously studied BWR fuels of 37 and 54 GWd/t with almost no rim structure. The fission gas release and bubble swelling due to the growth of grain boundary bubbles and coarsened rim bubbles were effectively suppressed by the strong restraint pressure of 150 MPa for all the fuels; however the fission gas release remarkably increased for the two high burnup fuels with the developed rim structure, even at the strong restraint conditions. From the stepwise de-pressurization tests at an isothermal condition of 1500degC, the critical external pressure, below which a large burst release due to the rapid growth and interlinkage of the bubbles abruptly begins, was increased from a 40-60 MPa level for the middle burnup fuels to a high level of 120-140 MPa for the rim-structured high burnup fuels. The high potential for transient fission gas release and bubble swelling in the rim-structured fuels was attributed to highly over-pressurized fission gases in the rim bubbles. (author)