Cover illustration left: Detail of a spent nuclear fuel pellet showing radial cracks and the adjacent Zircaloy cladding. middle: Quantum chemical calculation of the incorporation of selenite into the calcite (104) surface. right: SEM image of Y(OH) 3 nanoparticles precipitated on a calcite cleavage surface. with its 1100 employees is one of the largest energy research centers in Europe. It bund...

This paper presents the technical basis for extended dry storage of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF). addresses and closes five knowledge gaps defined by U.S. Department Energy (DOE) Spent Nuclear Fuel Working Group (SNFWG) in DOE-ID/RPT-1575 “Aluminum-clad Fuel: Technical Considerations Challenges Extended (>50 Years) Dry Storage.” The SNFWG's primary concern pertaining to ASNF is roote...

Considering the safety issues of traditional UO 2 -Zr fuel, a variety accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) candidates have been proposed in recent years. Among several ATFs, U 3 Si , and UN are two promising for materials owing to their high thermal conductivity uranium density. The FeCrAl alloy SiC/SiC composite material cladding oxidation resistance strength. In order quantitatively evaluate performa...

The Fukushima accident sequence The earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that devastated part of Northeast Japan on March 11th, 2011, led to a series of accidents in the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, constructed and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Only three of the six units of the plant (all of them boiling water reactors, BWR) were operating at that time. The sequence of ...

The purpose of present research was production ofZr-based alloy as the nuclear fuel cladding by mechanical alloying (MA) and sintering process. Firstly, Zr and Cr powders were mechanically alloyed to produce the refractory and hard Zr-10 wt% Cr alloy, and then, the powder mixtures were consolidated by press and following sintering at temperature of 800˚C min. The phase evolution, microstructura...

Several methods have been developed previously for estimating cumulative energy production and plutonium production from graphite-moderated reactors. These methods generally fall into the category of nuclear archaeology. The Graphite Isotope Ratio Method (GIRM) is one well-known technique of this type. This method is based on the measurement of trace isotopes in the reactor’s graphite matrix to...