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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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New coolants, new fuels: A new generation of university reactors
Here’s an easy way to make aging U.S. power reactors look relatively youthful: Compare them (average age: 43) with the nation’s university research reactors. The 25 operating today have been licensed for an average of about 58 years.
Krishna Vinjamuri, Richard R. Hobbins
Nuclear Technology | Volume 62 | Number 2 | August 1983 | Pages 145-150
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33213
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A postirradiation examination of two uranium aluminide (UAlx) fuel plates from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) was conducted. The two fuel plates failed due to pinhole corrosion during irradiation to ∼76% of the maximum burnup limit of 2.3 X 1021 fission/cm3. It is believed that the aluminum cladding failed due to pit corrosion initiated at an existing pit ∼0.0076 to 0.0102 cm (3 to 4 mil) deep at a hot spot. About 0.2 and 0.8 g of UAlx fuel was washed out of these plates through the pinholes due to aqueous corrosion and erosion of the UAlx under ATR primary coolant conditions. Aluminum cladding pit corrosion depth and UAlx fuel corrosion-erosion mass rates under the ATR primary coolant conditions were calculated to be 0.23 cm/yr and 14 g/yr, respectively.
