Nuclear Materials for Fission Reactors: Proceedings of Symposium E of the 1991 E-MRS Fall Conference, Strasbourg, France, 4-7 November 1991(v. 28 European Materials Research Aociety Symposia Proceedings S.)

This volume brings together 47 papers from scientists involved in the fabrication of new nuclear fuels, in basic research of nuclear materials, their application and technology as well as in computer codes and modelling of fuel behaviour. The main emphasis is on progress in the development of non-oxide fuels besides reporting advances in the more conventional oxide fuels. The two currently performed large reactor safety programmes CORA and PHEBUS-FP are described in invited lectures. The contributions review basic property measurements, as well as the present state of fuel performance modelling. The performance of today's nuclear fuel, hence UO2, at high burnup is also reviewed with particular emphasis on the recently observed phenomenon of grain subdivision in the cold part of the oxide fuel at high burnup, the so-called "rim" effect. Similar phenomena can be simulated by ion implantation in order to better elucidate the underlying mechanism and reviews on high resolution electron microscopy provide further information.

Table of Contents:
(Abbreviated). Sections: I. Fuel Fabrication and Performance. Irradiation behaviour of metallic fast reactor fuels (R.G. Pahl et al.). Preparation of uranium nitride in the form of microspheres (G. Ledergerber et al.). Fission product behaviour in Phenix fuel pins at high burnup (M. Tourasse et al.). Concerning the microstructure changes that occur at the surface of UO2 pellets on irradiation to high burnup (C.T. Walker et al.). Fuel performance under normal PWR conditions: A review of relevant experimental results and models (M. Charles, C. Lemaignan).II. Reactor Safety. The Phebus fission product project (P. von der Hardt, A. Tattegrain). Information on the evolution of severe LWR fuel element damage obtained in the CORA programme (G. Schanz et al.). Transient fuel behaviour of preirradiated PWR fuels under reactivity initiated accident conditions (T. Fujishiro et al.). On the kinetcs of UO2 interaction with molten Zircaloy at high temperatures (M.S. Veshchunov. A.M. Volchek). III. Basic Properties of Nuclear Materials. Neutron irradiation effects in boron carbides: Evolution of microstructure and thermal properties (K. Froment et al.). Thermal conductivity of SIMFUEL (P.G. Lucuta et al.). Effect of temperature on bubble precipitation in uranium dioxide implanted with krypton and xenon ions (J.H. Evans). Vaporization behaviour of uranium-plutonium mixed nitride (Y. Suzuki et al.). Study of the oxidation of a stainless steel under BWR conditions by advanced analytical techniques (C. Degueldre et al.). Structural analysis of oxide scales grown on zirconium alloys in autoclaves and in a PWR (H. Blank et al.). IV. Modelling of Fuel Performance. TRANSURANUS: A fuel rod analysis code ready for use (K. Lassmann). Mechanistic model of fission gas behaviour in metallic fuel (Y. Tsuboi et al.). Development of the thermal behaviour analysis code DIRAD and the fuel design procedure for LMFBR (N. Nakae et al.). Author index. Subject index.