Performance of Fast Flux Test Facility driver and prototype driver fuels.

摘要

This paper discusses the experience gained with seven driver fuel designs irradiated in the US Department of Energy's Fast Flux Test Facility during its first ten years of operation. These designs include austenitic stainless steel-clad (U,Pu)O(sub 2) fuels, as well as (U,Pu)O(sub 2), UO(sub 2), and U-10Zr fuels clad with ferritic-martensitic (HT9) stool in wire-wrapped pin bundles contained in a hexagonal duct. Selected observations of fuel pin behavior are reviewed, including pin lifetime results from a test with pin powers high enough to cause fuel melting at the beginning-of-life. The excellent performance of several of these fuel designs under transient safety testing in the Transient Reactor Test facility also reviewed. 18 refs., 8 figs., 6 tabs.