High-density reduced-enrichment fuels for Research and Test Reactors

Development and irradiation testing of high-density fuels have been conducted by the US RERTR Program in order to provide the technical means to reduce the enrichment of fuels for research and test reactors. The traditional aluminum dispersion fuel technology has been extended to include the highest practical loadings of uranium-aluminide (UAl/sub x/, 2.3 MgU/m3), uranium-oxide (U3O8, 3.2 MgU/m3), and uranium-silicide (U3Si2, 5.5 MgU/m3; U3Si, 7.0 MgU/m3) fuels. A third uranium-silicide alloy, U3SiAl (U + 3.5 wt % Si + 1.5 wt % Al) has been found to perform poorly at high burnup. Testing of miniature fuel plates and full-sized fuel elements is at an advanced stage for the highest loadings of the aluminide and oxide fuels and intermediate loadings of the silicide fuels, and good results have been obtained for low-enriched uranium. The data obtained to date are discussed. 1 reference, 3 figures, 1 table