Published 2013 | Version v1
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DME-221 thoria fuel: fabrication, irradiation testing, and post-irradiation examination

Description

Thoria (ThO2) has several advantages over Urania (UO2) as a nuclear fuel; its higher thermal conductivity results in lower operating temperatures, and its higher melting point and chemical inertness promise better stability under postulated accident conditions. Thorium is a 'fertile' material, breeding mainly fissile 233U as it is irradiated, making it more proliferation resistant. Thorium is also abundant as a natural resource, and is therefore an attractive future energy source. Past irradiation tests have shown that pellet microstructure greatly influences the irradiation performance of thoria fuels (e.g., fission-gas release is strongly influenced by the as fabricated fuel microstructure). The 'DME-221' test, conducted at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories, was designed to demonstrate the superior irradiation performance of thoria fuels characterized by homogeneous, high-density microstructures. Eighteen DME-221 fuel elements were irradiated in the National Research Universal (NRU) loops in a 36-element demountable bundle. Six of the elements had pellets comprised of natural thoria (ThO2), and twelve comprised of thoria blended with 1.0 wt.% or 1.5 wt% 235U in (Th, U)O2. Various power histories were achieved as a result of the varied initial fissile concentration. To date, DME-221 thoria fuel has demonstrated excellent performance to burnups up to ∼930 MWh/kgHE (39 GWd/tHE); fission-gas release is substantially lower than that expected from UO2 fuels experiencing similar operating histories. This paper highlights the fabrication, irradiation testing and post-irradiation examination of twelve DME-221 fuel elements. The remaining six DME-221 elements are currently planned for irradiation in NRU to burnups up to 1500 MWh/kgHE (42-63 GWd/tHE). (author)

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Additional details

Publishing Information

Imprint Pagination
15 p.
Report number
AECL-CW--124950-CONF-007

Conference

Title
12. International Conference on CANDU Fuel
Dates
15-18 Sep 2013
Place
Kingston, ON (Canada)

INIS

Country of Publication
Canada
Country of Input or Organization
Canada
INIS RN
49101476
Subject category
S11: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS;
Resource subtype / Literary indicator
Conference
Quality check status
Yes
Descriptors DEI
BURNUP; FUEL PELLETS; IN PILE LOOPS; MICROSTRUCTURE; NUCLEAR FUELS; REACTOR CHANNELS; THORIUM OXIDES; URANIUM OXIDES;
Descriptors DEC
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS; CHALCOGENIDES; ENERGY SOURCES; FUELS; MATERIALS; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PELLETS; REACTOR COMPONENTS; REACTOR EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES; REACTOR MATERIALS; THORIUM COMPOUNDS; URANIUM COMPOUNDS;

Optional Information

Notes
9 refs., 3 tabs., 8 figs.