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Characterization of local hydride re-orientation in high burn-up PWR fuel rods induced by high pressure at high temperatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2016

Y. Yan ,
T. Smith ,
Z. Burns  and
B Bevard
Y. Yan*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN-37831
T. Smith
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN-37831
Z. Burns
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN-37831
B Bevard
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN-37831
*
*(Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Hydride re-orientation in high burn-up PWR fuel rods was induced by high pressure at high temperatures. The high-burnup specimens were sectioned from PWR rods taken from a 15×15 assembly of the H.B. Robinson (HBR) Unit 2 reactor. Out-of cell benchmark tests performed on unirradiated hydrided Zircaloy-4 specimens were conducted to determine the appropriate temperature, pressure, cooling rate, and number of cooling cycles for the reorientation of the irradiated in-cell specimens. The in-cell hydride reorientation tests were performed using highburnup fuel specimens under a hoop stress ≈145 MPa at 400ºC. The specimens were heated to the target temperature of 400ºC, held for 3 hours, cooled at 1ºC/min to 170ºC,and then heated at 1ºC/min to the target temperature again for five cycles. Post test metallographic examinations showed that a significant amount of radial hydrides were induced in the HBR fuel rods. The length of radial hydride was up to 60 µm. For unirradiated materials, the ductility of the radial hydride treated specimens is significantly reduced as compared to the as-hydrided specimens having the same hydrogen concentration (≈300 wppm in this work). The mechanical testing on irradiated fueled samples with hydride reorientation experiments have been performed, and will be reported separately in the near future.

Keywords

Zrradiation effectsnuclear materials
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 2 , Issue 11: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XL , 2017 , pp. 591 - 596
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

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Footnotes

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

References

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