Fabrication Process Selection through the Miniplate-1 (MP-1) Experiment

Transcription

1 Fabrication Process Selection through the Miniplate-1 (MP-1) Experiment I. Glagolenko, N. Woolstenhulme, B. Rabin, D. Keiser, M. Meyer, B. Nielson, J. Parry, M. Lillo, G. Roth, W. Jones, J. Wiest, and S. Snow, INL G. Hofman and E. Wilson, ANL D. Senor, PNNL C. Richardson, B&W 02/26/15

2 Needed LEU fuel for conversion of five US High Power Research Reactors (US HPRR) US High Performance Research Reactor (US HPRR) 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) 2 Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) 3 National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR) 4 High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) 5 Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Regulatory Agency Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Department of Energy (DOE) Challenge: one type of fuel for different end-use applications 2

3 Selected Design Monolithic LEU U-10Mo fuel with Zr diffusion barrier Co-rolled Zr barrier ( mm thick) Plate (1.1 mm 2.54 mm thick) Al-6061 cladding U-Mo monolithic foil ( mm thick) August 2009: Favorable performance in the limited number of irradiation tests: 9 miniplates (RERTR-9,-10) 2 large size plates (AFIP-2 and AFIP-3) Additional data became available for this fuel design later: 56 miniplates (RERTR-12), 11 larger size plates (AFIP-4, AFIP-6, AFIP-6-MKII, AFIP-7) 3

4 Reference Fuel fabrication process Bench scale reference process developed at INL Down-blending and alloying U-Mo casting and coupon preparation Hot rolling of U-Mo with Zr barrier in a welded can assembly De-canning of the U-Mo/Zr foil Annealing of the foil, if desired Cold rolling of the foil to final thickness Foil shearing Foil cleaning Bonding of the foil and cladding at 560 C using Hot Isostatic Press (HIP) 4

5 Challenges Scaling of the fabrication process 2.54 cm cm cm cm INL bench-scale reference fabrication process Scale-up Large scale reference fabrication process Not commercially viable: low yield inefficient poor uranium resource utilization high cost of waste reprocessing 5

6 Key to Success Efficient and Economical Fabrication Process Acceptable Irradiation Performance Successful Fuel Product 6

7 New Focus Develop commercially viable fabrication process Optimize existing (baseline) fabrication process Develop/implement alternative fabrication methods Fuel Fabrication Capability (FFC) is in charge Improve yield Minimize waste Reduce cost Stage Gate Approach in Fabrication Process Selection Detailed information about FFC activities is in Doug Burkes s presentation on Friday 7

8 Examples of Fabrication method Improvements Reduction of U-waste by changing Zr barrier application method Reduction of cost by switching to can-less HIP No barrier Zr barrier application Co-rolling Plasma spray Cladding bonding Hot Isostatic Press (HIP) Can-less HIP Electro-plating Key: new fabrication technologies have to be demonstrated at large scale 8

9 New Focus Commercial Viability Deploy and demonstrate commercially viable fabrication methods at large scale far in advance of irradiation tests Adequate Irradiation Performance Demonstrate irradiation performance as a function of fabrication process Base Fuel Designs no fuel grading no poisons Reactors MURR, MIT, NBSR Downselect Select fabrication process suitable to be qualified for LEU conversion Single Fab. Process Compatible with ATR/HFIR MP-1 test is a platform for achieving this mission 9

10 Evaluation of Fuel Performance: Miniplate-1 (MP-1) irradiation test Fabrication process downselect test All test specimens manufactured using fabrication processes that meet commercial viability requirements Miniplate scale Base fuel designs Prototypic irradiation conditions/plate geometries Focus on evaluation of irradiation performance against a set of established criteria Development of key relationships: Fabrication process Microstructure/ properties Irradiation performance 10

11 Role of MP-1 in US HPRR Fuel Development Program MP-1 Screening/downselect test, miniplate scale Base fuel fabrication process selected for qualification Fuel specification defined Detailed information about base fuel qualification is in Nic Woolstenhulme s presentation on Friday MP-2 Fuel qualification test miniplate scale FSP-1 Fuel qualification test full-size plate scale ET-1 Fuel qualification test fuel element scale Base Fuel Qualification Report submitted to NRC 11

12 MP-1 Designing by the Rules Design to meet safety and program requirements Be prototypic as much as feasible: use LEU instead of HEU prototypic geometries (fuel meat/cladding thickness) commercial fab processes prototypic irradiation conditions Obtain statistical confidence to enable good downselect decision Reduce the risk of in-reactor failure as much as possible 12

13 MP-1 Fabrication Requirements Miniplates are manufactured by commercial supplier (B&W) using commercially viable processes: optimized baseline alternative MP-1 fuel specification requires demonstration of selected fabrication processes at full scale Miniplates are representative of the full scale products and meet established fuel specification Entry requirement for MP-1 test Fabrication processes meet Technology Readiness Level 4 (TRL- 4) economics (capital and life cycle cost) technical maturity suitability for implementation lead time for deployment 13

14 MP-1 Matrix (Evolving) Reference Fuel Specimens Fabrication Process Variables Fuel Specimens Coupon fabrication Zr barrier application Fuel foil edge conditions Cladding bonding Optimized FY16 baseline Billet casting and bare rolling No barrier Co-rolling Plasma spray Electro-plating Not-covered (co-roll, plasma-spray) Covered (electroplating) Hot Isostatic Press (HIP) Can-less HIP 14

15 MP-1 Selecting plate geometries and irradiation conditions for testing Plate 19 Plate 19 Plate 15 Dispersion The same fuel meat thickness Plate with the highest power density is the plate with the highest heat flux Plate 15 Monolithic Multiple fuel foil thicknesses Plate 19 highest power density Plate 15 highest heat flux Five Reactors: Variety of plate designs (fuel meat/cladding thicknesses) coupled with unique operating conditions Striving to be prototypic 15

16 Reactor plates limiting operating conditions vs. MP-1 targets Plate peak power (reactor specific node), kw/cc MURR-thick foil: 0.020, MURR-thin foil: 0.009, ATR- thick foil: 0.016, 0.05 MITR-thick foil: 0.025, ATR-thin foil: 0.008, 0.05 MP-1 low power target: 0.025, 0.05 MP-1 high power target: , 0.05 MITR-thin foil: 0.013, MP-1 medium power target: , 0.05 NBSR: , Plate peak burnup (reactor specific node), E21 fiss/cc 16

17 Selection of plate geometries / irradiation conditions for MP-1 MURR-22, MITR NBSR, MURR-1 ATR, (HFIR) thickest meat low power, med-burnup thin meat med power, highest burnup thin meat highest power, low-to-med burnup 17

18 Essence of MP-1 Fab Process #1 Fab Process #2 Geometry #1 thick meat Geometry #2 thin meat Geometry #2 thin meat Fab Process #3. Test Condition #1 low power, med-burnup Test Condition #2 medium power, high burnup Test Condition #3 high power, low-to-med burnup Fabrication + Performance Requirements EXPERT JURY And the Winner is Fab Process X!!! 18

19 MP-1 Matrix Specimen Category Coupon Fab Method Foil Trimming Clad Bonding Fuel Meat, Plate thickness (inches) Power, Burnup Zirconium Application and Edge Condition Co-roll Plasma Spray Electroplating No Zirconium (Uncovered) (Uncovered) (Covered) , , 5.5 FFC-1-1 FFC-5-1 FFC-6-1 Fabrication Process Variables FY16 Optimized Baseline (Billet Cast and Bare Roll) Slitting HIP Alternate (Canless HIP) , , 7.6 FFC-1-2 FFC-5-2 FFC-6-2 FFC , , 4.0 FFC-1-3 FFC-5-3 FFC-6-3 FFC , , 5.5 FFC-8-1 FFC-7-1 FFC , , 7.6 FFC-8-2 FFC-7-2 FFC-9-2 FFC , , 4.0 FFC-8-3 FFC-7-3 FFC-9-3 FFC-12-3 Reference Process (modified geometry) Old Reference Shear HIP , , 5.5 FD , , 7.6 FD , , 4.0 FD replicates for each specimen type 28 specimens in high power conditions 36 specimens in medium power conditions 36 specimens in low power conditions Additional archives and substitutes 100 specimens total to be irradiated: 72 LEU + 28 HEU 19

20 LEU Advantages Prototypic enrichment Prototypic fabrication line Representative power history Less spread in power among specimens in the flux trap Less spread in burnup Consequences Longer irradiation time Need for higher flux flux trap (NBSR case) Harder to match target power = can t use enrichment to adjust power Limited number of suitable test positions within one test train ATR- and HFIR-like conditions still require HEU! 20

21 MP-1 Test Capsule Hf suppressors to reduce power peaking Benefits Reduces power peaking to allow thermal safety requirements for experiment insertion to be met Helps to avoid failures at nonprototypic conditions Courtesy of Jim Wiest 21

22 MP-1 Hardware Design Large-B Position Irradiation Vehicle South Flux Trap Irradiation Vehicle Two side-by-side channels, a.k.a double barrel design Fits more specimens at the same axial flux level with the same power Provides more efficient cooling configuration for high power specimens Courtesy of Nic Woolstenhulme 22

23 MP-1 Test Positions in ATR B-12 B-10 B-11 South Flux Trap (SFT) 23

24 Low Power Test in Large B Test Position MITR MURR-22 condition All plates are LEU With Hf suppressors Up to 26% higher than bounding conversion element power Number of useful positions (in red) per one large B test train = 14 Need to fit 36 specimens 3 large B test trains Each specimen type is isolated in individual capsule 5-6 cycles to reach target burnup Courtesy of Nic Woolstenhulme 24

25 Medium Power Test in South Flux Trap NBSR MURR-1 condition All plates are LEU Without Hf suppressors Up to 58% higher than conversion element bounding power Number of useful positions (in red) = 32 Need to fit 36 specimens 4 miniplates short Specimens without Zr barrier are isolated in individual capsule Two specimen types are in one capsule 6-7 cycles to reach target burnup Courtesy of Nic Woolstenhulme 25

26 High Power Test in South Flux Trap ATR condition All plates are HEU (A% and B%) With Hf suppressors Number of useful positions (in red) = 32 Need to fit 28 specimens No specimens without Zr barrier ~ 1 cycle to reach target burnup Courtesy of Nic Woolstenhulme 26

27 Irradiation Schedule Test Test Position ATR Cycles Low Power Three large B s X X X X X X Medium Power South Flux Trap X X X X X X X High Power South Flux Trap X CIC In-between cycles Channel gap probe measurements and data interpretation As-run analysis for the previous cycle and projections for the next cycle Risk assessment against requirements based exit criteria Go/no go decision per capsule basis 27

28 Irradiation Performance Geometric Stability Mechanical Integrity Stable and Predictable Behavior Acceptable Irradiation Performance Geometric Stability no in-core blistering blister threshold temperature is known acceptable no excessive swelling no plate deformation or movement thermo-physical properties affecting geometric stability are known Mechanical Integrity no fission product release no delamination (bond integrity) no in-core blistering blister threshold temperature is known and acceptable no warping or buckling fuel microstructure is stable mechanical properties are known and acceptable mechanical stresses are known thermo-physical properties affecting mechanical integrity are known no excessive cladding corrosion limits for fabrication defects are established Stable and Predictable Behavior swelling is known and acceptable fuel microstructure is stable, no obvious precursors to failure large gas bubbles interconnected porosity thermo-physical properties affecting fuel stability are known blister threshold temperature is known and acceptable Detailed information about PIE activities is in Adam Robinson s presentation on Friday 28

29 MP-1 Benefit to the Program MP-1 will provide irradiation performance data for the fabrication processes: that have lower cost, produce less waste and are more efficient that have been demonstrated to be scalable and commercially viable with good statistical confidence to enable solid fabrication process down-select decision MP-1 will deliver fuel/fabrication process for future fuel qualification and ultimate reactor conversion 29