Kiyomi Ishijima

Fuel failure and fission gas release in high burnup PWR fuels under RIA conditions

Abstract To study the fuel behavior and to evaluate the fuel enthalpy threshold of fuel rod failure under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions, a series of experiments using pulse irradiation capability of the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) has been performed. During the experiments with 50 MWd/kg U PWR fuel rods (HBO test series; an acronym for high burnup fuels irradiated in Ohi unit 1 reactor), significant cladding failure occurred. The energy deposition level at the instant of the fuel failure in the test is 60 cal/g fuel, and is considerably lower than those expected and pre-evaluated. The result suggests that mechanical interaction between the fuel pellets and the cladding tube with decreased integrity due to hydrogen embrittlement causes fuel failure at the low energy deposition level. After the pulse irradiation, the fuel pellets were found as fragmented debris in the coolant water, and most of these were finely fragmented. This paper describes several key observations in the NSRR experiments, which include cladding failure at the lower enthalpy level, possible post-failure events and large fission gas release.

Boiling Water Reactor Fuel Behavior Under Reactivity-Initiated-Accident Conditions at Burnup of 41 to 45 GWd/tonne U

Abstract Boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel at burnup of 41 to 45 GWd/tonne U was pulse irradiated in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) to investigate fuel behavior under cold startup reactivity-initiated-accident conditions. Current Japanese BWR fuel, 8 × 8BJ type (Step I), from Fukushima-Daiichi Unit 3 was refabricated into short segments, and the test rods were promptly subjected to thermal energy from 293 to 607 J/g (70 to 145 cal/g) within ~20 ms. The fuel cladding was ductile enough to survive the prompt deformation due to pellet cladding mechanical interaction, while the plastic hoop strain reached 1.5% at the peak location. Transient fission gas release by the pulse irradiation varied from 3.1 to 8.2%, depending on the peak fuel enthalpy and the steady-state operation conditions.

Transient fuel behavior of preirradiated PWR fuels under reactivity initiated accident conditions

Abstract Since 1975, extensive studies on transient fuel behavior under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions have been continued in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. A new experimental program with preirradiated LWR fuel rods as test samples has recently been started. In this program, transient behavior and failure initiation have been studied with 14 × 14 type PWR fuel rods preirradiated to a burnup of 20 to 42 MWd/kgU. The test fuel rods contained in a capsule filled with the coolant water were subjected to a pulse irradiation in the NSRR to simulate a prompt power surge in an RIA. The effects of preirradiation on the transient fission gas release, pellet-cladding mechanical interaction and fuel failure were clearly observed through the transient in-core measurements and postirradiation examination.

Transient Elongation of a Fresh Fuel Rod under Reactivity Initiated Accident Conditions

In-pile experiments of fresh fuel rods under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions have been performed in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in order to understand the basic pellet cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) behavior. Rapid fuel pellet expansion due to a power excursion would cause radial and longitudinal deformation of the cladding. This PCMI could be one of the possible incipient failure modes of an embrittled cladding of a high burnup fuel under the RIA conditions. Basic PCMI behavior was studied by measuring cladding deformation of a fresh fuel rod without complicated irradiation effects. The transient elongation measurements of the fuel with two kinds of gap width indicated not only PCMI-induced cladding elongation, but also reduction of the pellet stack displacement by the cladding constraint. In the tests under a high-pressure and high-temperature condition simulating an operation condition of BWRs, additional ridge-type cladding d...

Pulse irradiation tests of rock-like oxide fuel

Abstract Pulse irradiation tests of special oxide fuel designed for plutonium disposal, called rock-like oxide (ROX), have been conducted in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) to investigate the transient behavior of ROX fuel under reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions. An uranium free ROX, (Zr,Y)O 2 –MgAl 2 O 4 –PuO 2 , is proposed for once-through use of Pu in light water reactors. However, because of smaller negative Doppler and void reactivity coefficients in the ROX fuel, higher peak fuel enthalpies are expected under RIAs than for UO 2 fuel. Thus, the tests of simulated ROX, in which Pu was replaced by U for easier realization, were conducted to a peak fuel enthalpy of 0.96 kJ g −1 (230 cal g −1 ), which is above current Japanese safety limits for UO 2 . The transient behavior of the simulated ROX fuel was quite different from that of UO 2 , because of its different thermo-physical properties. Fuel failure was associated with fuel melting at peak fuel enthalpies of 1.63 kJ g −1 (390 cal g −1 ) to 2.22 kJ g −1 (530 cal g −1 ). Significant mechanical energy generation, the reason for the limit, however, was not observed.

New results from the NSRR experiments with high burnup fuel

Results obtained in the NSRR power burst experiments with irradiated PWR fuel rods with fuel burnup up to 50 MWd/kgU are described and discussed in this paper. Data concerning test method, test fuel rod, pulse irradiation, transient records during the pulse and post irradiation examination are described, and interpretations and discussions on fission gas release and fuel pellet fragmentation are presented. During the pulse-irradiation experiment with 50 MWd/kgU PWR fuel rod, the fuel rod failed at considerably low energy deposition level, and large amount of fission gas release and fragmentation of fuel pellets were observed.

Hydrogen Generation during Cladding/Coolant Interactions under Reactivity Initiated Accident Conditions

Hydrogen generation in chemical reaction of Zircaloy cladding with coolant water under reactivity initiated accident conditions (RIAs) has been studied with the in-pile experiments in the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR). PWR type segmented fuel rods were subjected to pulse irradiation to simulate the power excursion of an RIA. Transient measurements of the void fraction with a densimeter developed for the in-pile experiment detected prompt generation of hydrogen with an increase in cladding surface temperature. The hydrogen generation ceases in the initial 4 seconds of the power excursion even in the experiments resulting in the melting of the fuel cladding and severe damage. The total amount of hydrogen generated during the power burst was estimated by integration of the densimeter data and also by metallographic examinations of the oxidized cladding. The total amount of hydrogen produced increased with an elevation in the maximum temperature of the cladding surface, and the hydrogen generation wa...