NSUF 2020-PB2: Library Submission - Peach Bottom Unit 2 Fuel Rod Sections and Remnants

The Peach Bottom Unit 2 Reactor is a 1000 MW BWR electric plant owned and operated by the Philadelphia Electric Company, designed by General Electric. On January 13, 1976, fuel failures occurred in the Peach Bottom Unit 2 BWR. The failures were subsequently identified as having occurred in relatively low burnup fuel (8 to 12 GWd/MTU) and these failures were tentatively attributed to PCMI possibly induced by corrosion on the inside surface of the Zircaloy-2 cladding. Assemblies with two different 7 x 7 bundle designs were selected to be send to INEEL for PIE to investigate these failures; PH-006, an old 7 x 7 design, and PH462, an improved 7 x 7 design. Sections from the center and end of rods E-6 and D-6 of assembly PH462 were placed in canister K-4 for storage in the MTR canal. There is no detailed information on the axial location of the segments, and descriptions in records show seemingly inconsistent/unclear information: • Sections and remnants are used to describe material from E-4 and D-6, respectively; it is unclear the difference between these, but it is assumed remnants are small remains from sectioning. • It is indicated 6 sections are in each item from rod E-4, but no information on length is provided. • It is unclear how many “remnants” are present from Rod D-6 • Rod E-4 has an item described as “E-4 6 Sections” with no indication of axial location of the sections; it is assumed top to be consistent with D-6 sampling • The U-235 and Pu239+241 for the identified center sections/remnants is higher than that for the top or unidentified section/remnant; this is not expected as higher burnup and thus less U-235 and Pu239/241 would be expected in this region. A transcription error is the expected cause of this mismatch.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Abstract	The Peach Bottom Unit 2 Reactor is a 1000 MW BWR electric plant owned and operated by the Philadelphia Electric Company, designed by General Electric. On January 13, 1976, fuel failures occurred in the Peach Bottom Unit 2 BWR. The failures were subsequently identified as having occurred in relatively low burnup fuel (8 to 12 GWd/MTU) and these failures were tentatively attributed to PCMI possibly induced by corrosion on the inside surface of the Zircaloy-2 cladding. Assemblies with two different 7 x 7 bundle designs were selected to be send to INEEL for PIE to investigate these failures; PH-006, an old 7 x 7 design, and PH462, an improved 7 x 7 design. Sections from the center and end of rods E-6 and D-6 of assembly PH462 were placed in canister K-4 for storage in the MTR canal. There is no detailed information on the axial location of the segments, and descriptions in records show seemingly inconsistent/unclear information: • Sections and remnants are used to describe material from E-4 and D-6, respectively; it is unclear the difference between these, but it is assumed remnants are small remains from sectioning. • It is indicated 6 sections are in each item from rod E-4, but no information on length is provided. • It is unclear how many “remnants” are present from Rod D-6 • Rod E-4 has an item described as “E-4 6 Sections” with no indication of axial location of the sections; it is assumed top to be consistent with D-6 sampling • The U-235 and Pu239+241 for the identified center sections/remnants is higher than that for the top or unidentified section/remnant; this is not expected as higher burnup and thus less U-235 and Pu239/241 would be expected in this region. A transcription error is the expected cause of this mismatch.
Award Announced Date	2020-08-07T00:00:00
Awarded Institution	Idaho National Laboratory
Facility	Advanced Test Reactor
Facility Tech Lead	Alina Zackrone
Irradiation Facility	None
PI	None
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	Library Submission
RTE Number	None