NSUF 24-5070: Neutron Irradiation and PIE of ZrC Coated Surrogate Particle Fuel in IN-Pile Steadystate Extreme Temperature (INSET) Testbed
Tristructural isotropic (TRISO) and other coated particle fuels have been identified as the preferred fuel configuration for several advanced reactor concepts for terrestrial use and space reactors. Although much is known about the performance of traditional TRISO fuel particles, the expanded envelope of operating conditions introduced by some of the new reactor designs require the fabrication of coated particle fuels with different coating configurations (such as the use of ZrC coatings) and performance characterization at temperatures as extreme as 2400 °C. Therefore, there is an important need to study the performance and operating limitations of these new fuel coatings while simultaneously being exposed to high temperatures and neutron irradiation. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a leading institution on coated particle fuel fabrication, recently developed the IN-pile Steady-state Extreme Temperature (INSET) testbed, which can be used to heat materials above 2000 °C in a nuclear reactor to test both high temperature and radiation effects on materials. In this work, we propose the use of INSET to study the coating performance of ZrC coated surrogate fuel particles exposed to thermal cycling above 2000 °C under neutron irradiation.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Award Announced Date | 2024-08-15T09:38:32.177 |
| Awarded Institution | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| Facility Tech Lead | Kory Linton, Raymond Cao |
| Irradiation Facility | Ohio State University Research Reactor |
| PI | Brandon Wilson |
| PI Email | [email protected] |
| Project Type | RTE |
| RTE Number | None |