SummaryAn Integrated Process Strategy has been developed to package, condition, transport, and store in an interim storage facility the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) currently residing in the K-Basins at Hanford. Information required to support the development of the conditioning process and to support the safety analyses must be obtained fiom characterization testing activities conducted on fuel samples from the Basins. Some of the information obtained in the testing was reported in PNL-10778, K-Basin Spent Nuclear Fuel Characterization Data Report (Abrefah et al. 1995).That report focused on the physical, dimensional, metallographic examinations of the first K-West (KW) Basin SNF element to be examined in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL) hot cells; it also described some of the initial SNF conditioning tests.This second of the series of data reports covers the subsequent series of SNF tests on the first fuel element. These tests included optical microscopy analyses, conditioning (drying and oxidation) tests, ignition tests, and hydrogen content tests.The results of the conditioning, hydrogen content, and ignition testing of the element sections An SNF specimen w i t h added water was cold vacuum dried (CVD) at 60 Torr and 323 K, hot vacuum dried (HVD) at 60 Torr and 573 K, and then conditioned at 473 K in 2% oxygen/98% argon mixture. The added water came off during the first 3 hours of the CVD cycle. Relatively little moisture evolved during the HVD cycle. A small oxygen pickup was noted during passivation. may be summarized as follows: 0Two SNF specimens with free water added were CVD at 60 Torr and 323 K, HVD at 60 Torr and 573 K, and then conditioned at 523 K in 2% oxygen/98% argon mixture at 1 atm. Most of the added water came off during the CVD cycle. Relatively little moisture was observed during the HVD cycle. A total of 27 mg of oxygen was picked up during passivation. The two specimens lost a total of 505.6 mg of weight as a result of oxide spalling. Analysis of the spalled residue indicated that U,O, and U,O, were the predominant chemical phases. -The moisture content in the off-gas stream during the passivation cycle in this run was higher than in tests when water was not added to the specimens Hydrogen release was measured from a decladded fuel specimen at 573 K for about 24 hours and at 623 K for 96 hours in an argon gas flow of 100 cdmin. System pressure was about one atmosphere. The concentration of hydrogen gas peaked during the temperature ramp. The total hydrogen measured was 0.12 mg. An appreciable amount of moisture was also detected in the gas stream. a Significant amounts of both moiswre and hydrogen were released fiom cladding material peeled off the damaged end of the element. These values peaked sharply (about 260 ppm moisture and 75 ppm hydrogen in the gas stream) during the temperature ramp but, remained fairly high throughout the run.iii Hydrogen release was measured from a decladded fuel specimen sectioned from the uncorroded mid-length of N-reactor fuel element. A total of ...
SummaryAn Integrated Process Strategy has been developed to package, condition, transport, and store in an interim storage facility the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) currently residing in the K-Basins at Hanford. Information required to support the development of the conditioning process and to support the safety analyses must be obtained fiom characterization testing activities conducted on fuel samples from the Basins. Some of the information obtained in the testing was reported in PNL-10778, K-Basin Spent Nuclear Fuel Characterization Data Report (Abrefah et al. 1995).That report focused on the physical, dimensional, metallographic examinations of the first K-West (KW) Basin SNF element to be examined in the Postirradiation Testing Laboratory (PTL) hot cells; it also described some of the initial SNF conditioning tests.This second of the series of data reports covers the subsequent series of SNF tests on the first fuel element. These tests included optical microscopy analyses, conditioning (drying and oxidation) tests, ignition tests, and hydrogen content tests.The results of the conditioning, hydrogen content, and ignition testing of the element sections An SNF specimen w i t h added water was cold vacuum dried (CVD) at 60 Torr and 323 K, hot vacuum dried (HVD) at 60 Torr and 573 K, and then conditioned at 473 K in 2% oxygen/98% argon mixture. The added water came off during the first 3 hours of the CVD cycle. Relatively little moisture evolved during the HVD cycle. A small oxygen pickup was noted during passivation. may be summarized as follows: 0Two SNF specimens with free water added were CVD at 60 Torr and 323 K, HVD at 60 Torr and 573 K, and then conditioned at 523 K in 2% oxygen/98% argon mixture at 1 atm. Most of the added water came off during the CVD cycle. Relatively little moisture was observed during the HVD cycle. A total of 27 mg of oxygen was picked up during passivation. The two specimens lost a total of 505.6 mg of weight as a result of oxide spalling. Analysis of the spalled residue indicated that U,O, and U,O, were the predominant chemical phases. -The moisture content in the off-gas stream during the passivation cycle in this run was higher than in tests when water was not added to the specimens Hydrogen release was measured from a decladded fuel specimen at 573 K for about 24 hours and at 623 K for 96 hours in an argon gas flow of 100 cdmin. System pressure was about one atmosphere. The concentration of hydrogen gas peaked during the temperature ramp. The total hydrogen measured was 0.12 mg. An appreciable amount of moisture was also detected in the gas stream. a Significant amounts of both moiswre and hydrogen were released fiom cladding material peeled off the damaged end of the element. These values peaked sharply (about 260 ppm moisture and 75 ppm hydrogen in the gas stream) during the temperature ramp but, remained fairly high throughout the run.iii Hydrogen release was measured from a decladded fuel specimen sectioned from the uncorroded mid-length of N-reactor fuel element. A total of ...
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency Thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ACKNOWLEDGMENT As with any task of this magnitude, the results reported herein are the product of the efforts of many individuals from the Lynchburg Research Center and the Nuclear Power Generation Division (Fuel Engineering) who contributed in the areas of planning, operations, data reduction, and analyses. While space does not permit acknowledging all of the people involved, their assistance and efforts are greatly appreciated. The efforts of the following individuals who participated directly in the poolside examination are greatfully acknowledged:
Nine outer fuel elements were recovered from the K East Basin and transferred to a hot cell for examination. Extensive testing planned for these elements will support the process design for the Integrated Process Strategy (IPS), with emphasis on drying and conditioning behavior. Visual examinations of the fuel elements confirmed that they are appropriate to meet testing objectives to provide design guidance for IPS processing parameters.
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