AC-3-irradiation test of sphere-pac and pellet (U,Pu)C fuel in the US Fast Flux Test Facility

The objective of the AC-3 bundle experiment in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) was to evaluate a fuel fabrication method by ‘direct conversion’ of nitrate solutions into spherical uranium–plutonium carbide particles and to compare the irradiation performance of ‘sphere-pac’ fuel pins prepared at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) with standard pellet fuel pins fabricated at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The irradiation and post test examination results show that mixed carbide pellet fuel produced by powder methods and sphere-pac particle fuel developed by internal gelation techniques are both valuable advanced fuel candidates for liquid metal reactors. The PSI fabrication process with direct conversion of actinide nitrate solutions into various sizes of fuel spheres by internal gelation and direct filling of spheres into cladding tubes is seen as more easily transferable to remote operation, showing a significant reduction of process steps. The process is also adaptable for the fabrication of carbonitrides and nitrides (still based on a uranium matrix), as well as for actinides diluted in a (uranium-free) yttrium stabilized zirconium oxide matrix. The AC-3 fuel bundle was irradiated in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) during the years 1986–1988 for 630 full power days to a peak burn up of ∼8 at.% fissile material. All of the pins, irradiated at linear powers of up to 84 kW/m, with cladding outer temperatures of 465 °C appeared to be in good condition when removed from the assembly. The rebirth of interest for fast reactor systems motivated the earlier teams to report about the excellent, still perfectly relevant results reached; this paper focusing on the sphere-pac fuel behaviour.