Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T15:12:02.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Application of the Electron Microprobe in the Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Meltdown Experiments*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

S. J. Stachura  and
L. Cooper
S. J. Stachura
Affiliation:
Atomics International North American Aviation, Inc. Canoga Park, California
L. Cooper
Affiliation:
Atomics International North American Aviation, Inc. Canoga Park, California
Get access

Abstract

Transient (nuclear) heating experiments were conducted with uranium carbide fuel rods to study the failure characteristics of typical rod designs. Extremely unusual changes in microstructure were observed and the electron microprobe was employed to establish the disposition of materials resulting from the meltdown experiments. The probe results indicated substantial fuel-clad interactions and permitted the resolution of several uncertainties regarding the course of fuel rod failure and material redistribution. The electron microprobe represents a unique capability in the post-test analysis of such meltdown tests.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in X-Ray Analysis , Volume 10: Fifteenth Annual Conference on Applications of X-ray Analysis, August 10-12, 1966 , 1966 , pp. 422 - 430
Copyright
Copyright © International Centre for Diffraction Data 1966

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Based upon studies conducted for the USAEC under Contract AT-(11-1)-GEN-8.

References

1. Stachura, S. J. et al., “Uranium Carbide Transient Heating Studies—Phase H,” ANS Trans. 8: 305, 1965.Google Scholar
2. Stachura, S. J. and Silberberg, M., “The Application of Experimental Data from TREAT Meltdown Studies to Reactor Accident Analysis,” Proc, of the International Conference on Safety, Fuels, and Core Design in Large Fast Power Reactors, ANL-7120, 1965, p. 514.Google Scholar
3. Nichols, J. A. and Marples, J. A. C., “An Investigation of the U-C-Fe and Pu-C-Fe Ternary Phase Diagrams with Some Observations on the U-Pu-C-Fe Quaternary,” in: Proc. of a Symposium held at Harwell, November 1963, Carbides in Nuclear Energy, Vol. I, Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1964, p. 246.Google Scholar
4. Briggs, G. et al., “Phase Relationships in the Systems U-Cr-C, U-Ni-C, and U-Fe-Cr-C,” ibid., p. 231.Google Scholar
5. Briggs, G. et al., “Systems of UC, UO2, and UN with Transition Metals,” Trans. Brit. Ceram. Soc. 62: 221, 1963.Google Scholar
6. Walter, C. M. and Kelman, L. R., “Penetration Rate Studies of Stainless Steel by Molcen Uranium and Uranium-Fission Alloy,” J. Nucl. Mater.- 6: 281, 1962.Google Scholar
7. Walter, C. M. and Dickerman, C. E., “Treat Study of the Penetration of Molten Uranium and U/S wt.% Fs Alloy through Type 304 Stainless Steel,” Nud. Sci. Eng. 18: 518, 1964.Google Scholar