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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
A. B. Reynolds, C. A. Erdman, M. Kirbiyik
Nuclear Technology | Volume 26 | Number 2 | June 1975 | Pages 165-171
Technical Paper | Reactor Siting | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A24415
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Methods to calculate bounding values for the generation of fuel vapor during disassembly and during expansion of the fuel after disassembly in a fast-reactor core-disruptive accident were developed. Isentropic expansion of the fuel following disassembly with no fuel mixing before expansion was assumed. It was necessary to develop consistent thermodynamic fuel properties for the analysis. The method was applied to a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor disassembly, first with sodium in the core and then with sodium removed. Bounding values were also compared to lower values obtained by assuming mixing and thermal equilibrium of the fuel prior to expansion. For the bounding calculation with sodium removed, 4.6% of the fuel vaporized when the expanded fuel occupied all of the available volume. This value was reduced to 0.9% when mixing and thermal equilibrium prior to expansion was assumed.