Development Status of Transuranic-Bearing Metal Fuels Kemal O. Pasamehmetoglu AFCI Transmutation Fuels Campaign Director The 10th Actinide & Fission Product Partitioning and Transmutation Information Exchange Meeting October 8, 2008 (Mito, Japan) 1
Both fabrication and performance of transmutation fuels offer challenges compared to traditional fuels Focus to date on metal and oxide fast reactor fuels – Group TRU fuels for homogeneous transmutation – Driver fuels (U,Pu, Np?) and MA targets (Am or Am-Cm) Emphasis on fabrication and performance simultaneously Transmutation fuels are quite different than conventional fuels Multiple elements in the fuel Targeted U, Pu, Np, Am, Cm Varying thermodynamic properties Testing e.g. High vapor pressure of Am Impurities from separation process e.g. High lanthanide carryover Modeling & High burnup requirements Simulation High helium production during irradiation Remote fabrication & quality control Fuel must be qualified for a variable range of composition • Age and burnup of LWR SNF • Introduction of first tier recycle in LWR • Changes through multiple passes in FR • Variable conversion ratio for FR October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 2
U.S. has considerable experience with the use of metal fuel for sodium-cooled fast reactors The bulk of the experience comes from EBR-II and FFTF tests. Metal fuel was the preferred option for the IFR program in the U.S. when the program was terminated. U-Pu-Zr alloys were irradiated up to > 19% burnup. – 2- σ temperature irradiations up to 12% without breach In the beginning of the ATW program, U.S. considered metal fuel as a strong option for transmutation applications. Mark- Campaig n Mark-I / IA Mark-III / II I A Mark-IV Mark-V / VA * II/IIC/IICS U-5Fs and Fuel alloy (wt% ) U-5Fs U-10Zr U-10Zr U-20Pu-10Z r U-10Zr 235 U Enrichment (% ) 5 2 67-78 66.9 69.6 Variabl e Slug Diameter (mm ) 3.66 3.30 4.39 4.27 4.27-4.39 Smeared density (% ) 8 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 Burn up limit (at% ) 2.6 8.9 1 0 N/A TBD Plenum to fuel 0.18 0.68-1.01 1.45 1.45 1.45 volume ratio SS304L and CW 316 and HT 9 and Cladding material SS 304 L HT 9 SS 316 CW D9 CW 316 *Conversion to the Mark-V / -VA fuel types was not started before EBR-II was terminally shut down in 1994. October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 3
X501 Experiments in EBR-II (1990’s) Initial research on MA transmutation (IFR) – Discharged short of target burnup (10%) – Partial PIE completed Target composition: U-20ZPu-10Zr-2.1Am-1.3Np As fabricated composition: U-20.2Pu-9.1Zr-1.2Am-1.3Np High Am loss during fabrication Performed well to 7.9% HM burnup – Typical U-Pu-Zr fuel behavior – High helium release; typical FG release – No FCCI observed – No Am redistribution to clad inner wall October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 4
AFCI Fuels Testing in ATR East Flux Trap 1.0E+14 1.0E+13 1.0E+12 1.0E+11 1.0E+10 1 6 7 2 Without CD-shroud 1.0E+9 With CD-shroud 5 3 4 1.0E+8 1.0E-10 1.0E-6 1.0E-2 1.0E+2 East Flux 1.0E-8 1.0E-4 1.0E+0 Trap Energy in MeV 4 Capsule Positions in EFT – Cd baskets in 1,2,3,4 – 6 rodlets per capsule – LHGR to 500 W/cm – PICT to 650°C – Capsule pressure to 975 psi October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 5
AFC Fuel Test Series in the ATR AFC-1 AFC-2 AFC-3 AFC-4 Scoping – Scoping – Focused compositions Focused compositions Many compositions Focused compositions Test Strategy Nominal & limiting Nominal conditions Nominal conditions Nominal conditions conditions Capsule Drop-in Drop-in Instrumented lead Drop-in Type Metals Metals Metals Metals Fuel Types Nitrides Oxides Oxides Oxides Key Baseline Baseline Recycle feed Temperature control Features + MA + MA + RE Remote fabrication FY 2003 – FY 2008 – FY 2010 – FY 2011 – Time Frame FY 2008 FY 2013 + FY 2013 FY 2014 Test series in progress. Future test series. October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 6
AFC-1B and AFC-1F Metallic Transmutation Fuels (Evaluation Completed) AFC-1B AFC-1F Pu-12Am-40Zr U-29Pu-4Am-2Np-30Zr Pu-10Am-10Np-40Zr U-34Pu-4Am-2Np-20Zr Pu-40Zr U-25Pu-3Am-2Np-40Zr Pu-12Am-40Zr U-29Pu-4Am-2Np-30Zr Pu-60Zr U-28Pu-7Am-30Zr U-25Pu-3Am-2Np-40Zr • AFC-1D: same compositions as AFC-1B irradiated to higher burnups (30% or greater) • Recently discharged October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 7
AFC-1G and AFC-1H Experiments’ Status Inserted April 2005 AFC-1G (burnup ~30%) discharged waiting for PIE AFC-1H (burnup 40%) to be discharged soon Rodlet AFC-1G Rodlet AFC-1H 1 Pu-10Np-40Zr 1 U-29Pu-4Am-2Np-30Zr 2 Dummy 2 U-34Pu-4Am-2Np-20Zr 3 (U 0.50 , Pu 0.25 , Am 0.15 , Np 0.10 )N 3 U-25Pu-3Am-2Np-40Zr 4 Pu-10Np-40Zr 4 U-29Pu-4Am-2Np-30Zr 5 Dummy 5 U-28Pu-7Am-30Zr 6 Dummy 6 U-25Pu-3Am-2Np-40Zr 1 1 6 7 2 6 7 2 3 5 3 5 4 4 East Flux Trap East Flux Trap Irradiation Housing Irradiation Housing October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 8
AFC-2A and AFC-2B Experiments’ Status Inserted October 2007 AFC-2A: Burnup 10 at.% (Recently discharged) AFC-2B: Burnup objective is 25 at.% (Soon to be discharged) Rodlet AFC-2A (position 2) & 2B (position 3) 1 U-20Pu-3Am-2Np-15Zr 1 6 7 2 2 U-20Pu-3Am-2Np-1.0RE-15Zr 5 3 4 3 U-20Pu-3Am-2Np-1.5RE-15Zr 4 U-30Pu-5Am-3Np-1.5RE-20Zr East Flux Trap 5 U-30Pu-5Am-3Np-1.0RE-20Zr Irradiation Housing 6 U-30Pu-5Am-3Np-20Zr RE=6% La, 16% Pr, 25% Ce, 53% Nd October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 9
FUTURIX-FTA Status—Metallic Fuels Four FUTURIX-FTA nitride and metal fuel samples and sodium-bonded rodlets are fabricated and shipped to France for irradiation in Phenix reactor. – Nitride pellets are fabricated at LANL, sodium-bounding and pin fabrication completed at INL. – Metal fuel slugs and the sodium bounded pins are fabricated at INL. Irradiation of metal fuels along with oxides fabricated in Europe started in May 2007 The irradiation tests will be completed in May-June 2009 and irradiated fuel samples will be shipped to the U.S. for PIE. Pu-12Am-40Zr and U-29Pu-4Am-2Np-30Zr October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 10
Advanced Casting Studies Advanced casting system technology must – Retain volatile elements (Am) – Applicable for hot cell use – Increase melt usage – Reduce materials losses and waste production Developmental approach will be taken – Bench-scale system (BCS) – Engineering-scale system (ECS) – Advanced Casting System (ACS) October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 11
Transmutation Metal Fuels - Summary & Conclusions Considerable characterization activities continue – Measurement of thermodynamic properties – Phase Diagrams/Phase CLAD Distribution/Microstructure – Diffusion-couple measurements Considerable effort in looking at cladding development – High-fluence data on HT-9 (200 dpa) Fuel – Looking at advanced options (ODS) – Considering lined/coated cladding options Fe Technical feasibility of MA-bearing metal fuels is demonstrated (>10% burnup) Advanced modeling and simulation is being used to cover the range of compositions that are of interest Engineering feasibility of large scale fabrication needs additional work – Casting simulations are being used to optimize the fabrication processes Zr October 8, 2008 International Exchange Meeting on P&T (Mito,Japan) 12
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