Analytical and experimental investigation of the dispersion process during rapid transients for the aluminum-based nuclear fuel plates

A thermally induced fuel-plate dispersion model was developed to analyze for dispersive potential and determine the onset of fuel plate dispersion for aluminum-based research and test reactor fuels. The effect of rapid energy deposition in a fuel plate was simulated. Several data types for aluminum-based fuels tested in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) facility in Japan and in the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility in Idaho, US, were reviewed. Analyses of experiments show that the onset of fuel dispersion is clearly linked to a sharp rise in the predicted strain rate, which further coincides with the onset of aluminum vaporization. Analysis also shows that aluminum oxidation and exothermal chemical reaction between the fuel and aluminum can significantly affect: the energy deposition characteristics and, therefore dispersion onset connected with aluminum vaporization, and the onset of aluminum vaporization