skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Non-destructive Preirradiation Assessment of UN / U-Si “LANL1” ATF formulation

Abstract

The goal of the Advanced Non-destructive Fuel Examination (ANDE) work package is the development and application of non-destructive neutron imaging and scattering techniques to ceramic and metallic nuclear fuels, ultimately also to irradiated fuels. The results of these characterizations provide complete pre- and post-irradiation on length scales ranging from mm to nm, guide destructive examination, and inform modelling efforts. Besides technique development and application to samples to be irradiated, the ANDE work package also examines possible technologies to provide these characterization techniques pool-side, e.g. at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using laser-driven intense pulsed neutron and gamma sources. Neutron tomography and neutron diffraction characterizations were performed on nine pellets; four UN/ U-Si composite formulations (two enrichment levels), three pure U3Si5 reference formulations (two enrichment levels), and two reject pellets with visible flaws (to qualify the technique). The 235U enrichments ranged from 0.2 to 8.8 wt. %. The nitride/silicide composites are candidate compositions for use as Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF). The monophase U3Si5 material was included as a reference. Pellets from the same fabrication batches will be inserted in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho during 2016. We have also proposed a data format to buildmore » a database for characterization results of individual pellets. Neutron data reported in this report were collected in the LANSCE run cycle that started in September 2015 and ended in March 2016. This report provides the results for the characterized samples and discussion in the context of ANDE and APIE. We quantified the gamma spectra of several samples in their received state as well as after neutron irradiation to ensure that the neutron irradiation does not add significant activation that would complicate shipment and handling. We demonstrated synchrotron-based 3D X-ray microscopy on the composite fuel materials, providing unparalleled level of detail on the 3D microstructure. Furthermore, we initiated development of shielding containers allowing the characterizations presented herein while allowing handling of irradiated samples.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Fuel Cycle Technologies (NE-5). Fuel Cycle R&D Program
OSTI Identifier:
1325689
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-27110
TRN: US1700008
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 42 ENGINEERING; ACCIDENT-TOLERANT NUCLEAR FUELS; URANIUM SILICIDES; NEUTRON DIFFRACTION; URANIUM NITRIDES; URANIUM 235; FUEL PELLETS; X RADIATION; SLIGHTLY ENRICHED URANIUM; MODERATELY ENRICHED URANIUM; GAMMA RADIATION; NEUTRONS; GAMMA SPECTRA; EVALUATION; TOMOGRAPHY; CASKS; MICROSCOPY; MICROSTRUCTURE; PULSES; accident tolerant fuel; nuclear; characterization

Citation Formats

Vogel, Sven C., Losko, Adrian Simon, Pokharel, Reeju, Ickes, Timothy Lee, Hunter, James F., Brown, Donald William, Voit, Stewart Lancaster, Tremsin, Anton S., Bourke, Mark Andrew, and McClellan, Kenneth James. Non-destructive Preirradiation Assessment of UN / U-Si “LANL1” ATF formulation. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.2172/1325689.
Vogel, Sven C., Losko, Adrian Simon, Pokharel, Reeju, Ickes, Timothy Lee, Hunter, James F., Brown, Donald William, Voit, Stewart Lancaster, Tremsin, Anton S., Bourke, Mark Andrew, & McClellan, Kenneth James. Non-destructive Preirradiation Assessment of UN / U-Si “LANL1” ATF formulation. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1325689
Vogel, Sven C., Losko, Adrian Simon, Pokharel, Reeju, Ickes, Timothy Lee, Hunter, James F., Brown, Donald William, Voit, Stewart Lancaster, Tremsin, Anton S., Bourke, Mark Andrew, and McClellan, Kenneth James. 2016. "Non-destructive Preirradiation Assessment of UN / U-Si “LANL1” ATF formulation". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1325689. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1325689.
@article{osti_1325689,
title = {Non-destructive Preirradiation Assessment of UN / U-Si “LANL1” ATF formulation},
author = {Vogel, Sven C. and Losko, Adrian Simon and Pokharel, Reeju and Ickes, Timothy Lee and Hunter, James F. and Brown, Donald William and Voit, Stewart Lancaster and Tremsin, Anton S. and Bourke, Mark Andrew and McClellan, Kenneth James},
abstractNote = {The goal of the Advanced Non-destructive Fuel Examination (ANDE) work package is the development and application of non-destructive neutron imaging and scattering techniques to ceramic and metallic nuclear fuels, ultimately also to irradiated fuels. The results of these characterizations provide complete pre- and post-irradiation on length scales ranging from mm to nm, guide destructive examination, and inform modelling efforts. Besides technique development and application to samples to be irradiated, the ANDE work package also examines possible technologies to provide these characterization techniques pool-side, e.g. at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using laser-driven intense pulsed neutron and gamma sources. Neutron tomography and neutron diffraction characterizations were performed on nine pellets; four UN/ U-Si composite formulations (two enrichment levels), three pure U3Si5 reference formulations (two enrichment levels), and two reject pellets with visible flaws (to qualify the technique). The 235U enrichments ranged from 0.2 to 8.8 wt. %. The nitride/silicide composites are candidate compositions for use as Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF). The monophase U3Si5 material was included as a reference. Pellets from the same fabrication batches will be inserted in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho during 2016. We have also proposed a data format to build a database for characterization results of individual pellets. Neutron data reported in this report were collected in the LANSCE run cycle that started in September 2015 and ended in March 2016. This report provides the results for the characterized samples and discussion in the context of ANDE and APIE. We quantified the gamma spectra of several samples in their received state as well as after neutron irradiation to ensure that the neutron irradiation does not add significant activation that would complicate shipment and handling. We demonstrated synchrotron-based 3D X-ray microscopy on the composite fuel materials, providing unparalleled level of detail on the 3D microstructure. Furthermore, we initiated development of shielding containers allowing the characterizations presented herein while allowing handling of irradiated samples.},
doi = {10.2172/1325689},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1325689}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Thu Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}