Survey of Experience with High Performance Fuel Rods of PWR Type.

摘要

Westinghouse irradiation experience has confirmed the dimensional stability of properly designed PWR fuel rods at linear heat ratings up to 19kw/ft. It has also shown that Zircaloy-4is a satisfactory fuel cladding material in PWR environments provided that (1) the initial cladding integrity is good, (2) there are no harmful impurities in the fuel,and (3) stresses in the cladding are not excessive. Fuel element defects observed in Westinghouse tests and at other laboratories have generally been attributed to gross fuel melting,excessive fuel swelling,defects in the fuel elements before irradiation,or design-related problems. All irradiation testing to date has indicated that Zircaloy-4clad UO sub 2fuel elements will perform acceptably at the power ratings and burnups anticipated in large PWR cores. (ERA citation 01:019094)