Reactor fuel rod

Purpose: To provided a fuel rod which incorporates a copper barrier tube improved in absorptibe power (getter effect) of fission product gases of iodine, cadmium or the like. Constitution: After a copper layer is formed on the inside surface of a zirconium alloy tube, the layer is once oxidezed, and an oxide layer thus produced is then reduced to form a fuel can. The copper layer thus formed exhibits very fine porous property resulting in remarkably large surface area. Therefore, the copper layer incorporates high absorptive power of fission product gases of iodine, cadmium or the like and restricts the excessive accumulation of these gases in a fuel rod. (Yoshihara, H.)