Minor-Actinides transmutation in an Accelerator Driven ... · 11-IEMPT, San Francisco, Nov. 1-5...

11-IEMPT, San Francisco, Nov. 1-5 2010 F. Delage 1

Minor-Actinides transmutation in an Accelerator Driven System prototype: results from fuel developments within the

European integrated program EUROTRANS.

F. Delage, R. Belin, J.P. Ottaviani (CEA)X.-N. Chen, W. Maschek, A. Rineiski (KIT)

E. D’Agata, A. Fernandez, J. Somers, D. Staicu (JRC)F. Klaassen, S. Knol (NRG)

V. Sobolev (SCK CEN)R. Thetford (Serco for UK-NNL)

J. Wallenius (KTH)B. Wernli (PSI)

OUTLINES:Objectives & background

Items addressedIn-pile tests results

Major outcomes


Objectives & background for fuel developments• Objectives of domain AFTRA:

Ranking of ADS fuel concepts for European Facility for Industrial Transmutation (400 MWth, U-free fuel, Pb coolant) according to in-pile behaviour, out-of-pile properties, predicted behaviour

in normal operating conditions and safety performance Recommendations for the most promising fuel

• Fuel candidates:• Emphasis in Europe on oxide-based fuels

- reference: CERCER (Pu, MA)O2 + MgO and CERMET (Pu, MA)O2 + enrMo- solid-solution (Pu,MA,Zr)O2 as an alternativeFirst development in the frame of the FP5 - FUTURE program: best candidates according toperformance, safety and fabricability criteria + synthesis of oxide compounds + out-of-pilecharacterisationStrong synergy with transmutation target programs (ex: ECRIX-H)Large industrial experience on oxide fuel fabrication for critical reactors

• Nitride-based fuels (Pu,MA,Zr)N as a backup

Development by JAEA (EUROTRANS partner): JAEA ADS fuel compo. ~Pu0.2Am0.3Zr0.5NDevelopment in the frame of the FP5 - CONFIRM program: (Am,Zr)N synthesis, irradiationof (Pu,Zr)N pellets in HFR, out-of-pile measurements


Items addressed within AFTRA• CERCER & CERMET fuel element design and performance assessment:

– Pu/MA ratio, IM content, size & configurations of pellets, pins and SAs– Neutronic and thermo-mechanical behaviour from BOL to EOL

• Safety Analysis:– transients conditions: ULOF, UTOP, …– severe accidents

• In-pile experiments:– PIE on one pin of ADS fuel precursor (Pu0.3Zr0.7N ), irradiated in HFR (480W.cm-1,

10.4at%) within CONFIRM program– FUTURIX-FTA test in PHENIX– HELIOS test in HFR– BODEX test in HFR and Post Irradiation Examinations

• Out of pile experiments:– Thermal and mechanical properties of CERMET, CERCER fuels– Chemical compatibility : fuel/clad, fuel/coolant, TRU compounds/Inert Matrices– Oxygen potential– Pu-Am-O phase diagram


• Comparison of irradiation behaviour in EFIT representative conditions for 3 fuel types : oxides (european development), nitrides (JAEA development), metallic fuels (US development)

Collaboration DOE-JAEA-ITU-CEA• Investigation on MgO-CERCER and Mo-CERMET fuels under EUROTRANS umbrella

– Test successfully completed in March 2009 after 235 EFPD• CERMET fuel capsule:

– Pin 5: LHR ~130W/cm & BU~18at%

– Pin 6: LHR~130W/cm & BU~13at%

• CERCER fuel capsule:



– PIE scheduled in FP-7 FAIRFUELS project

Futurix-FTA experiment

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CERCER

CERMET

Pin nb composition Am (g/cm3)

TRU (g/cm3)

5 Pu0.8Am0.2O2-x + 86%vol Mo 0.3 1.3

6 Pu0.23Am0.25Zr0.52O2-x + 60%vol Mo 1.0 1.8

7 Pu0.5Am0.5O2-x + 80%vol MgO 1.0 2.0

8 Pu0.2Am0.8O2-x + 75%vol MgO 1.9 2.5


• Role of microstructure and T° on fuel swelling as well as helium build-up & release: – Pin 1: Am pyrochlore particles (~5-50µm) dispersed in MgO matrix with tailored open porosity– Pins 2&3 (T° instrumented): AmO2 in Yttrium stabilised ZrO2 crystal lattice w/o Pu– Pins 4&5: beads (>65µm) embedded in Mo w/o Pu

– Irradiation test successfully completed on Feb. 19, 2010 after ~241 EFPD & internal temperatures measured in pins 2&3 lower (~100°C) than expected

– PIE under progress within FP-7 FAIRFUELS project

HELIOS experiment


CERCER and CERMET pellets fabrication

ITU flowsheet / CERMET: CEA flowsheet / CERCER:

• Steps: particle synthesis by 2 routes and then conventional powder metallurgy

atomisation

gelation in ammonia


BODEX experiment (1/5)• Investigation of He build-up and release mechanisms in Inert Matrices

• 10B surrogate of 241Am to simulate He production:• Advantages: few wt% of 10B sufficient to be representative of He production, short irradiation time,

easy fabrication and handling.

• Design:

• HFR irradiation conditions: 57 EFPD - 10B burn-up: ~65% - He production: ~6x1020atoms/cm3

2x3 capsules : 3 pellets doped with 10B + 1 pellet doped with 11B + 1 undoped pellet

2 legs & on-line pressure measurements / 2 capsules

3 boron compounds : Mo2B / Mo ZrB2 / Y-ZrO2 Mg3B2O6 / MgO

2 T° : 800 - ~1200°C1 wt% B3 matrices : Mo, MgO, ZrO2

10B10B 10B 11B 0B

density >90% density> 90% density: 76-82%

hot leg

cold leg

containment shroud capsule

Thermocouples

Pressure transducers

α42

73

10

105 +→+ LinB


BODEX experiment (2/5)

• Behaviour of Mo samples:

He release (1200°C): 9 %

Non doped samples

Irradiation T°800°C 1200°C

before irradiation

before irradiation

Irradiation T°800°C 1200°C

10B doped samples

cracks

Vol. changes linked with 10B& T° increase

crack effects

(high density)

Global stabilityat both T°



• Behaviour of MgO samples:

He release:- 32 % (800°C)- 35% (1200°C)

Non doped samples

Irradiation T°1200°C

before irradiation

10B doped samples

Swelling linked with 10B

Spread resultsLower swelling

at high T°


before irradiation

No cracks but very fragile materials

Extra-sintering of pure MgO

at 1200°C

(high open porosity)



• Behaviour of ZrO2 samples:

He release (1200°C): 27%

Non doped samples


before irradiation

10B doped samples

Limited swelling


before irradiation

No cracks but fragile

materials

Higher ΔPo at 800°C

(high density)



• Summary:

• Conclusion: – Molybdenum (high density): low helium release – significant swelling at 1200°C -

very good performance at 800°C

– MgO (high porosity): large He release – significant swelling at 800°C –

possible extra-sintering at 1200°C

– YSZ (high density): large He release - low swelling at both temperatures

Swelling ranges are manageable in all cases

10B- doped samples

Average swelling (%)

Open Porosity (%) He release (%)

Visual inspectionBOI EOI

Mo-800°C 2 2.4 2.3 N/Acracks

Mo-1200°C 9 2.5 4.6 9

MgO-800°C 8 21.3 27.1 32

fragileMgO-1200°C 3 22.7 24.7 35

YSZ-800°C 1.2 4.0 7.6 N/AYSZ-1200°C 4.1 3.5 5.1 27


– Fabrication of Am bearing fuels: demonstrated at laboratory scale with• Am content up to 36 wt% (1.9 g/cm3)• TRU-oxide fraction up to 40 vol%

– Fuel behaviour under irradiation:• first irradiation tests completed on ADS type fuels: FUTURIX-FTA & HELIOS• results gained in BODEX: swelling of Mo & MgO manageable

– Physical-chemical properties:• accurate data on thermal properties: heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, oxygen potential

and high T° species• first results on mechanical properties for (Pu,Am)O2: creep rate• chemical compatibility (normal operation T° conditions and short time) for

– MgO and Mo / PuO2 and Pu0.5Am0.5O2

– Pb / TRU-oxides, MgO and Mo– T91 / Pu0.8Am0.2O2-x, T91/Mo and T91/MgO, T91 / CERMET samples

• phase diagram investigation: Am drives the crystallographic structures of (Pu,Am)O2-y

– Am rich systems: hexagonal Am2O3 type structure– Pu rich systems: strong modifications with Am increase from fcc PuO2 to bcc Am2O3 structures

Major Outcomes on CERCER and CERMET fuels (1/2)


– Neutronic & transmutation performances under normal operation conditions:• fuel element configurations found to meet EFIT core specifications given by designers• similar performances with MgO-CERCER and enrMo-CERMET fuels

– Thermo-mechanical performances under normal operation conditions:• description of fission gas behaviour in heterogeneous media improved in models• good behaviour calculated (MACROS, TRAFIC) of both fuels

– Safety analysis: • sufficient safety margins for MgO-CERCER fuel • larger margins for Mo-CERMET fuel• T91 clad failure limits pose main restriction on safety (and design)

Reinforced interest for both enrMo-CERMET and MgO-CERCER for EFIT

Ranking between the 2 primary candidates seems premature without at least results of FUTURIX-FTA & HELIOS PIE scheduled in FP7-FAIRFUELS program (2009-2013)

Major Outcomes on CERCER and CERMET fuels (2/2)


Thank you for your attention

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Minor-Actinides transmutation in an Accelerator Driven ... · 11-IEMPT, San Francisco, Nov. 1-5...

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