In-Pile Instrumentation to Support Fuel Cycle Research and Development - Fy12 Status Report

Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy funds fuel research and development that emphasizes an approach relying on first principle models to develop optimized fuel designs that offer significant improvements over current fuels. To facilitate this approach, high fidelity, real-time data are essential for characterizing the performance of new fuels during irradiation testing. A strategic research effort is underway to develop sensors of unprecedented accuracy and resolution for obtaining the data needed to characterize three-dimensional changes in fuel microstructure during irradiation testing. When implemented, this strategy will yield test capsule designs that are instrumented with new sensor technologies for irradiations at facilities primarily relied upon by the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) program, the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). As part of this effort, laboratory testing, and as needed, irradiation testing, of sensors in these capsules will be completed to give sufficient confidence that the irradiation tests will yield the required data.At the onset of this effort, a strategic plan was developed to provide necessary background information related to fuel irradiation testing, desired parameters for detection, and an overview of currently available in-pile instrumentation. As part of developing this strategic plan, a workshop was held in which United States (US) and foreign experts from fuels, irradiation, and instrumentation fields ranked candidate sensor technologies. The strategic plan describes the consensus reached during the workshop with respect to recommendations for the path forward for accomplishing the goals of this research program. This document reports on the status of investigations in the sensor technologies identified by the expert panel as offering the most promise for meeting FCRD program objectives.As noted within this report, Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) research funding was limited. However, as summarized below, significant progress was still made in each technology area with respect to the developing and deploying new test rigs and sensors.• Ultrasonics Based Sensors -During FY12, FCRD funding was primarily used to advance deployment of an ultrasonic thermometer (UT) and to support development of a successful ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) proposal for addressing a key issue related to ultrasonic sensor deployment for in-pile irradiation testing, ultrasonic transducer survivability. This collaborative proposal, which was led by Pennsylvania State University, will include several piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers.Laboratory testing was completed to assess the viability of using ultrasonics thermometers for multipoint temperature detection during irradiation testing. Although the accuracy and resolution will depend on the sensor selected, prior evaluations indicate that temperature measurements can be obtained with the required accuracy (2-3 °C) at multiple locations with a sing...