Fast Reactors and Accelerator Driven Systems Knowledge Base

Conference Article: Status of (UPu)C and (UPu)N fuel development in BARC

Abstract

Plutonium rich (Pu/U+Pu = 0.7) mixed uranium plutonium monocarbide (MC) has been used as driver fuel in the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) in India. Presently, efforts are being made to have a plutonium rich mixed uranium plutonium mononitride (MN) core for FBTR and to develop uranium rich (U/U+Pu = 0.8) MC and MN fuels for the forthcoming prototype fast breeder reactor (PF'DR) of 500 MWe capacity. In BARC, viable process flow sheets are being developed for commercial scale production of MC and MN via the carbothermic reduction of oxides followed by cold-pelletisation and sintering route. Simultaneously, thermal conductivity and hot hardness data of both plutonium and uranium rich MC and MN are being generated. The out-of-pile chemical compatibility of these fuels with SS 316 cladding and sodium coolant is also being evaluated. The present paper summarises the results of these investigations in BARC during the last two years.

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Reference:

Technical committee meeting on advanced fuel for fast breeder reactors: Fabrication and properties and their optimization. Vienna (Austria). 3-5 Nov 1987

International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)

IAEA-TECDOC--466, pp:8-24