Argonne National Laboratory Reports

Report issued by the Argonne national Laboratory discussing centrifugal casting of thin uranium plates. The applicability of the centrifugal casting technique to the production of multiple castings of fuel pins of small diameter and of thin fuel plates was investigated. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs

Argonne National Laboratory Report ANL-4458

Report discussing the relative thermal conductivities of liquid lithium, sodium, and eutectic NaK, and the specific heat of liquid lithium, as well as the methods and materials used to determine this information

Iodine stress-corrosion cracking in irradiated Zircaloy cladding. [PWR; BWR]

Irradiated Zircaloy cladding specimens, which had experienced fluences from 0.1 to 6 x 10/sup 21/ n/cm/sup 2/ (E>0.1 MeV), were gas-pressure tested in an iodine environment to investigate their stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility. The test temperatures and hoop stresses ranged from 320 to 360/sup 0/C and 150 to 500 MPa, respectively. The results indicate that irradiation, in general, increases the susceptibility of Zircaloy to iodine SCC. For specimens that experienced fluences >2 x 10/sup 21/ n/cm/sup 2/ (E>0.1 MeV), the 24-h failure stress was 177+-18 MPa, regardless of the preirradiation metallurgical condition. An analytical model for iodine SCC has been developed which agrees reasonably well with the test results

Argonne National Laboratory Report ANL-5690

Report describing the fabrication of Doppler Helices, which were 1/8 inch diameter x 12 foot long uranium core completely enclosed within a thin metal jacket and wound into a spring or helix shape

In-cell facility for performing mechanical-property tests on irradiated cladding

A new facility was developed for testing cladding sections of LWR fuel rods. This facility and the accompanying test procedures have improved the level of in-cell mechanical-testing capabilities, making them comparable to existing capabilities for unirradiated cladding. The new facility is currently being used to study the susceptibility of irradiated Zircaloy cladding from LWR fuel rods to iodine stress-corrosion cracking. Preliminary testing results indicate a systematic effect of temperature, stress and irradiation on the susceptibility of annealed and stress-relieved Zircaloy-2. Experimental data obtained to date are being used to develop a stress-corrosion cracking model for LWR fuel rod failure. SEM examination of the undisturbed fracture surface of specimens that failed by pinhole leakage provides useful information on crack propagation and morphology

ANL (Series)

From Abstract: "The applicability of the centrifugal casting technique to the production of multiple castings of fuel pins of small diameter and of thin fuel plates was investigated.

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

Radioactive krypton-85 is used as a tracer to detect pinhole failures in GCFR cladding. High-purity helium (99.99% pure) that contains 0.3 ppm krypton-85 is used to pressurize the tubular test specimens, and a Geiger-Mueller counter is used to detect the krypton-85 in the helium environmental gas as it leaves the test chamber. Under the least favorable conditions of temperature and specimen pressure, it is estimated that the smallest pinhole failure that could be detected within 60 sec would have an orifice diameter of 0.0102 cm. Using lead shielding around the Geiger-Muller counter to reduce background radiation, the electronics associated with the krypton-85 detector will terminate a biaxial creep test at krypton-85 activity levels above 20 counts/minute