Preirradiation report of fuel materials for P13T capsule irradiation

The preirradiation evaluation of the fuel for capsule P13T, which is the ninth in a series of large HTGR fuel irradiation tests conducted under the ERDA-sponsored HTGR Fuels and Core Development Program is described. The capsule contains two cells in which four cured-in-place fuel bodies are located. A total of 36 fuel rods are being irradiated in the fuel bodies. Each rod contains a dense melted UC2 or a weak acid resin U . C/sub x/ . O/sub y/ TRISO and a ThO2 BISO coated fuel particle batch. The main objectives of the test are to provide a full-exposure qualification test of reference fresh fuel and to compare the performance of the two fissile particle types. Cell 1, containing only reference fresh fuel, will be exposed to a peak fuel temperature of 13000C and a fast fluence of 8.6 x 1021 n/cm2 (E greater than 0.18 MeV). Cell 2, containing both fresh and recycle fuel, will be exposed to a temperature of 11000C and a fluence of 8.1 x 1021 n/cm2