EPMA and X-Ray Diffraction of the Degraded Fuel Bundle from the Phebus FPT1 Test |
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Authors: | Paul David William Bottomley Stéphane Brémier Dimitri Papaioannou Clive Thomas Walker |
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Institution: | (1) European Commission, JRC, Institut für Transurane, Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany, DE |
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Abstract: | The degraded fuel rod bundle from the second Phebus test (FPT1) was examined at ITU, Karlsruhe. Metallographic and microprobe
analysis of the degraded fuel pieces were carried out. The fuel samples from the upper bundle and cavity edge were porous
and had remnants of thick oxidised cladding adhering to them. Electron microprobe analysis line scans across the cladding-fuel
interface showed interdiffusion of U and Zr, with U diffusing down the grain boundaries of the oxidised cladding, while point
analyses revealed noticeable amounts of Zr (1.5–4.2 wt%) in the UO2 fuel. EPMA oxygen measurements revealed in the upper part of the bundle a superstoichiometry of x = 0.3–0.4 in UO
2 + x
, indicating that fuel fragments in this position had undergone considerable oxidation. X-ray diffraction of the corium pool
disclosed a deformed cubic fluorite lattice of UO2. The lattice parameter of a = 5.2984 ? was considerably reduced compared with pure, stoichiometric UO2 and was consistent with a lattice containing approximately 45 mol% ZrO2 that had undergone little oxidation. The corium’s nominal composition of (U0.5Zr0.5) O2 also corresponded to its observed single phase microstructure. |
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Keywords: | : Phebus-FP project corium severe reactor accidents electron microprobe analysis X-ray diffraction |
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