TY - GEN
T1 - Understanding the 1600°C fuel temperature limit of TRISO coated fuel particles
AU - Trejo, Félix Cancino
AU - Padilla, Mariana Sáenz
AU - López-Honorato, Eddie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Materials Research Society.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The TRISO (tristructural isotropic) coated fuel particle is made of a uranium oxide kernel coated with three layers of pyrolytic carbon and one of silicon carbide. This fuel, originally used in High Temperature Reactors, has been proposed as accident tolerant fuel for Light Water Reactors after the accident in Fukushima. Although this fuel is capable of retaining fission products within the particle up to l600°C, little is known on the origin of this temperature limit. Therefore, in order to increase the safety of this type of fuel, it is necessary to understand the origin of the degradation of the materials that compose this fuel. We have studied the effect of temperature on the microstructure and diffusion of silver in pyrolytic carbon coatings produced by fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition. Samples were heat treated at l000°C, l400°C and l700°C for 200 hrs. under inert atmosphere. The effect of temperature on the microstructure and silver diffusion behavior were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, optical microscopy, SEM and TEM. We observed that the microstructure of PyC changed drastically above l400°C, showing the increase in anisotropy and the re-orientation of the graphene planes. The diffusion of silver appears to be also correlated with this change in microstructure.
AB - The TRISO (tristructural isotropic) coated fuel particle is made of a uranium oxide kernel coated with three layers of pyrolytic carbon and one of silicon carbide. This fuel, originally used in High Temperature Reactors, has been proposed as accident tolerant fuel for Light Water Reactors after the accident in Fukushima. Although this fuel is capable of retaining fission products within the particle up to l600°C, little is known on the origin of this temperature limit. Therefore, in order to increase the safety of this type of fuel, it is necessary to understand the origin of the degradation of the materials that compose this fuel. We have studied the effect of temperature on the microstructure and diffusion of silver in pyrolytic carbon coatings produced by fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition. Samples were heat treated at l000°C, l400°C and l700°C for 200 hrs. under inert atmosphere. The effect of temperature on the microstructure and silver diffusion behavior were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, optical microscopy, SEM and TEM. We observed that the microstructure of PyC changed drastically above l400°C, showing the increase in anisotropy and the re-orientation of the graphene planes. The diffusion of silver appears to be also correlated with this change in microstructure.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84985994990&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1557/opl.2015.119
DO - 10.1557/opl.2015.119
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84985994990
T3 - Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings
SP - 61
EP - 66
BT - Materials for Nuclear Applications
A2 - Sanchez, Angeles del Consuelo Diaz
A2 - Honorato, Eddie Lopez
PB - Materials Research Society
T2 - 23rd International Materials Research Congress, IMRC 2014
Y2 - 17 August 2014 through 21 August 2014
ER -