Abstract UO2 pellets containing 5 vol% diamond particles were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor at an LHGR of up to 310 W/cm to the burnup of 7.2 GWd/tHM. Fission gas release,… Click to show full abstract
Abstract UO2 pellets containing 5 vol% diamond particles were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor at an LHGR of up to 310 W/cm to the burnup of 7.2 GWd/tHM. Fission gas release, measured during post-irradiation examination, was determined to be 1.08%. Fission gas release modeling performed using BISON fuel performance code showed that undoped UO2 fuel irradiated under the identical conditions, would have had fission gas release of 9.09%. Noting that diamond has the highest thermal conductivity of any known material, these results suggest that doping with a good thermal conductor is an effective means to reduce fission gas release in UO2 fuels.
               
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