ODS cladding fuel pins irradiation tests using the BOR-60 reactor

Abstract

In order to confirm the irradiation behavior of ODS steels and thus judge their applicability to fuel claddings, fuel pin irradiation tests using 9Cr and 12Cr-ODS claddings developed by JAEA were conducted to burn-up of 11.9 at% and neutron dose of 51 dpa in the BOR-60. Superior properties of the ODS claddings concerning FCCI, dimensional stability under irradiation and so on were confirmed and indicated good application prospects for high burn-up fuel. On the other hand, anomalous irradiation behaviors, fuel pin failure and the microstructure change containing coarse and irregular precipitates, occurred in a part of the fuel pin with 9Cr-ODS cladding. This paper describes evaluation of the obtained irradiation data and the investigation results into the cause of the anomalous irradiation behaviors. © 2013 Atomic Energy Society of Japan. All rights reserved.