ELECTRA is a Swedish training reactor concept that will use fourth generation nuclear reactor technology, and is cooled by natural circulation of liquid lead. During a fuel inspection the reactor vessel has to be emptied on metal coolant and the power must be shutoff, this can lead to a meltdown. By calculating the produced residual heat in the fuel pins during the power shutdown and coolant drainage, the cladding temperature could be calculated. The potential usage of argon, helium or nitrogen gas as an emergency coolant during loss of lead was investigated. The gas coolant will unavoidably contain small amounts of water vapour which can have a negative impact on the core. This matter was examined with a literature study on the effect of water vapour on the cladding surface; FeCrAl, an iron- base alloy with high aluminium and chromium content.  The burnup simulation code Serpent was used for calculating the residual heat. The results indicated that just after five days of shutdown the residual heat decreased to 31 W/pin and continued to progressively decrease in the coming days. It was evaluated that the residual heat developed in the core would not exceed 600°C.  Calculations on the emergency gas coolant showed that nitrogen gas offered the best solution on terms of thermal decrease and cost-effectiveness. While helium cooling was the recommended option due to its inertness.  The literature study done on the oxidizing effect of water vapour on FeCrAl, shows little impact due to the high oxidation resistance of this alloy as a result of the high aluminium and chromium percentage.

ELECTRA is a Swedish training reactor concept that will use fourth generation nuclear reactor technology, and is cooled by natural circulation of liquid lead. During a fuel inspection the reactor vessel has to be emptied on metal coolant and the power must be shutoff, this can lead to a meltdown. By calculating the produced residual heat in the fuel pins during the power shutdown and coolant drainage, the cladding temperature could be calculated. The potential usage of argon, helium or nitrogen gas as an emergency coolant during loss of lead was investigated. The gas coolant will unavoidably contain small amounts of water vapour which can have a negative impact on the core. This matter was examined with a literature study on the effect of water vapour on the cladding surface; FeCrAl, an iron- base alloy with high aluminium and chromium content.  The burnup simulation code Serpent was used for calculating the residual heat. The results indicated that just after five days of shutdown the residual heat decreased to 31 W/pin and continued to progressively decrease in the coming days. It was evaluated that the residual heat developed in the core would not exceed 600°C.  Calculations on the emergency gas coolant showed that nitrogen gas offered the best solution on terms of thermal decrease and cost-effectiveness. While helium cooling was the recommended option due to its inertness.  The literature study done on the oxidizing effect of water vapour on FeCrAl, shows little impact due to the high oxidation resistance of this alloy as a result of the high aluminium and chromium percentage.

ELECTRA is a Swedish training reactor concept that will use fourth generation nuclear reactor technology, and is cooled by natural circulation of liquid lead. During a fuel inspection the reactor vessel has to be emptied on metal coolant and the power must be shutoff, this can lead to a meltdown. By calculating the produced residual heat in the fuel pins during the power shutdown and coolant drainage, the cladding temperature could be calculated. The potential usage of argon, helium or nitrogen gas as an emergency coolant during loss of lead was investigated. The gas coolant will unavoidably contain small amounts of water vapour which can have a negative impact on the core. This matter was examined with a literature study on the effect of water vapour on the cladding surface; FeCrAl, an iron- base alloy with high aluminium and chromium content.  The burnup simulation code Serpent was used for calculating the residual heat. The results indicated that just after five days of shutdown the residual heat decreased to 31 W/pin and continued to progressively decrease in the coming days. It was evaluated that the residual heat developed in the core would not exceed 600°C.  Calculations on the emergency gas coolant showed that nitrogen gas offered the best solution on terms of thermal decrease and cost-effectiveness. While helium cooling was the recommended option due to its inertness.  The literature study done on the oxidizing effect of water vapour on FeCrAl, shows little impact due to the high oxidation resistance of this alloy as a result of the high aluminium and chromium percentage.

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McMaster University MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCES (2017) Hamilton, Ontario (Engineering Physics) TITLE: Comparative study of accident-tolerant fuel for a CANDU lattice AUTHOR: Simon Younan, B.Eng. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. David Novog NUMBER OF PAGES: xiii, 120 / Since the Fukushima accident in 2011, there have been an increasing number of studies on the use of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) in light water reactors to mitigate the consequences of a future severe accident, by better retaining fission products and/or providing operators more time to implement emergency measures. However, few studies exist for CANDU reactors in this regard. The goal of this study is to determine how different types of ATF are expected to behave in a CANDU lattice when compared to the current UO2 fuels. In particular, this study focuses on neutronic parameters calculated using the Serpent 2 code, but also models heat transfer and stylized accident scenarios. The ATF concepts tested include UO2-SiC composites, UN and UN-based composites, U-9Mo, and fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel, along with SiC and SS-coated cladding. Four general conclusions can be drawn: 1. Fuel temperature are lower for ATF as compared to traditional fuels. UO2-SiC composite fuel exhibits a moderate temperature reduction compared to UO2, particularly for fresh fuel. Other ATF fuel materials exhibit a substantial decrease in fuel temperature compared to UO2. The lower fuel temperatures are also accompanied by lower melting temperatures for some fuels, hence each design requires specific assessments on safety. 2. As most ATF have a poorer neutron economy compared to standard fuel designs, enrichment is required to use ATF in a CANDU, particularly for UN and FCM fuel compositions. Coolant void reactivity (CVR) is lowest with FCM fuel and highest with U-9Mo fuel. Fuel temperature coefficient (FTC) is most negative for fuel containing UN or U-9Mo. 3. Changing the cladding material from zircaloy to SiC slightly improves neutron economy, while a FeCrAl surface layer impairs neutron economy. The impact of many ATF sheath materials is to greatly reduce or eliminate hydrogen production in some severe accidents. A specific assessment on hydrogen production was not performed in this study. 4. In stylized accident scenarios, all fuels exhibit only a small temperature spike due to the reactivity insertion of the LOCA as the reactor shutdown limits the power excursion. For cases where Emergency Core Cooling functions as designed, fuel and channel failures are precluded for both traditional fuels and ATF. For cases with impairment of ECC, most ATF fuels show lower fuel temperatures than UO2 fuels and adequate heat removal to the pressure-calandria tube fuel channel. The exception would be Mo-based fuels that reach the melting point prior to establishing an adequately high sheath temperature to sustain radiative heat removal to the PT-CT assembly. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Since the Fukushima accident in 2011, there have been an increasing number of studies on the use of accident-tolerant fuel in nuclear reactors to mitigate the consequences of a future severe accident, reducing the likelihood and severity of a radiation release. Canadian reactors are of the CANDU design, which differs greatly from the reactors most recent studies have focused on. The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of using accident-tolerant fuel in CANDU reactors, studying different types. In general, the goal of accident-tolerant fuels in CANDU reactors would be to reduce fuel temperatures and improve fission product retention, reducing the likelihood/magnitude of radioactive releases in a severe accident. However, nearly all types of accident-tolerant fuel would also require the uranium to be slightly enriched as opposed to the current fuel which is based on naturally-occurring uranium. This study outlines the results obtained by computer modelling of accident-tolerant fuel in a CANDU reactor, including the enrichment requirements, changes to important reactivity feedbacks, and impacts on accident performance.

[EN] TiAl intermetallic have demonstrated excellent behavior at high temperature, however, the processing for producing coatings is not easy due to its high melting point, otherwise the coaxial laser cladding process promise to be an excellent tool for obtaining extensive overlapping coatings, achieving complete fusion and deposition of alloys with high melting point on surfaces with complex shape. In this work we study the parameters of coaxial laser process and preheating the substrate to achieve Ti48Al2Cr2Nb intermetallic coatings on Ti6Al4V sheet 3 mm thick, in order to improve the tribological, oxidation and corrosion behavior of the Ti6Al4V alloy. The geometrical and chemical dilution analysis of the single tracks obtained at different levels in the laser processing variables were able to identify combinations that minimize defects such as cracks, high dilution and inadequate aspect ratio. It found a direct relation between the cooling rate and the coaxial laser process parameters such as the powder feeding rate and scanning velocity. Thus the process was optimized by minimizing the cooling rate with decreasing the velocity. After this was selected as appropriate preheating temperature 350 ºC and were obtained coatings with 40% overlap, using process parameters which generate laser specific energy of 70, 80, 90 and 180 J/mm2, then they have been evaluated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Vickers micro-hardness (HV) and nanoindentation. The microstructure of the coatings consists gamma-TiAl phase and alfa2-Ti3Al. Preheating the substrate has allowed obtaining coatings with good metallurgical bond, although cracks and pores are observed for some conditions. It is noted that the expected variation in chemical composition from coating surface to the substrate was found, with low dilution of vanadium. The hardness of the TiAl laser coatings is higher than the substrate and the bending tests results shown that the coatings have good adhesion but with limited ductility. The tribological properties of the coatings shows that in the wear tests at room temperature a lower wear rate is obtained compared to the substrate. In the case of high temperature, the coatings have a lower coefficient of friction; however, a higher wear rate is obtained when compared with the substrate. The coatings have good resistance to oxidation evaluated by isothermal oxidation tests in air at 800 ºC, when compared with the substrate, the thermal growth oxide up to 12 microns thick for 150 hours were obtained. The structure of the oxide layers is complex and comprises the growth of successive layers from the outer surface of the coating. We also studied the electrochemical corrosion behavior of the coatings obtained. The results indicate that the coaxial laser cladding can be a good alternative to obtain extensive TiAl intermetallic coatings, dense coatings with good substrate bonding and minimal defects were obtained, that improve the oxidation and wear behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy. / [ES] Los intermetálicos TiAl han demostrado tener un excelente comportamiento a alta temperatura, sin embargo, su procesado para la obtención de recubrimientos no es sencillo debido a su alto punto de fusión, por otra parte el plaqueado láser coaxial promete ser una excelente herramienta para la obtención de recubrimientos por solape de cordones, logrando la completa fusión y deposición de aleaciones con elevado punto de fusión sobre superficies con forma complejas. En esta tesis se ha estudiado los parámetros de procesado láser coaxial y el precalentamiento del sustrato para lograr recubrimientos con intermetálico Ti48Al2Cr2Nb sobre láminas de Ti6Al4V de 3 mm de espesor, con la finalidad de mejorar el comportamiento tribológico, de oxidación y de corrosión de la aleación Ti6Al4V. Del análisis geométrico y de dilución química de los cordones obtenidos con diversos niveles en las variables de procesado láser se logró identificar combinaciones que minimizan defectos como grietas, alta dilución y relación de aspecto inadecuadas. Se ha encontrado una relación directa entre la velocidad de enfriamiento y los parámetros del proceso láser coaxial, tal como la cantidad de polvo aportado y la velocidad de pasada. De esta manera el proceso ha sido optimizado minimizando la velocidad de enfriamiento con la disminución de la velocidad de pasada. De este análisis se ha seleccionado como temperatura adecuada de precalentamiento 350ºC y se han obtenido recubrimientos con un 40% de solape, utilizando parámetros de proceso que generan energías especificas aportadas por el láser de 70, 80, 90 y 180 J/mm2, los cuales han sido evaluados mediante microscopia óptica (MO), microscopia electrónica de barrido (MEB), difracción de rayos X (DRX), microdureza Vickers (HV) y nanoindentación. La microestructura de los recubrimientos se compone de fases gamma-TiAl y alfa2-Ti3Al. El precalentamiento del sustrato ha permitido la obtención de recubrimientos con buena unión metalúrgica, aunque se observan para algunas condiciones grietas y poros. Se observa que la variación en la composición química de la superficie del recubrimiento al sustrato es la esperada, con baja dilución del vanadio. La dureza de los recubrimientos obtenidos es más alta que la del sustrato, y en los ensayos de flexión se observó que los recubrimientos tienen buena adherencia pero limitada ductilidad. El comportamiento tribológico de los recubrimientos muestra que en los ensayos de desgaste a temperatura ambiente se obtiene una tasa de desgaste menor por parte de los recubrimientos comparados con el sustrato. Para el caso de alta temperatura los recubrimientos presentan un menor coeficiente de fricción, sin embargo, se obtiene una mayor tasa de desgaste cuando se compara con el sustrato. De los ensayos de oxidación isotérmica se observó que los recubrimientos tienen buena resistencia a la oxidación en aire a 800ºC, al compararlos con el sustrato, llegando a obtener capas de óxidos de hasta 12 µm de espesor a 150 horas de oxidación. La estructura de las capas de óxidos es compleja y comprende el crecimiento de capas sucesivas a partir de la superficie externa del recubrimiento. También se ha estudiado el comportamiento a corrosión electroquímica de los recubrimientos obtenidos. Los resultados indican que el plaqueado láser coaxial puede ser una buena alternativa para la obtención de recubrimientos con intermetálicos TiAl, obteniendo recubrimientos densos, con buena unión al sustrato y mínimos defectos, que mejoran el comportamiento ante la oxidación y el desgaste de la aleación Ti6Al4V. / [CA] Els intermetàl·lics TiAl han demostrat tindre un excel·lent comportament a alta temperatura, però, el seu processat per a l'obtenció de recobriments no és senzill degut al seu alt punt de fusió, d'altra banda el plaquejat làser coaxial promet ser una excel·lent eina per a l'obtenció de recobriments per solapament de cordons, aconseguint la completa fusió i deposició de aliatges amb elevat punt de fusió sobre superfícies amb forma complexes. En aquesta tesi s'ha estudiat els paràmetres de processament làser coaxial i el preescalfament del substrat per aconseguir recobriments amb intermetàl·lic Ti48Al2Cr2Nb sobre làmines de Ti6Al4V de 3 mm de espessor, amb la finalitat de millorar el comportament tribològic, d'oxidació i de corrosió de l'aliatge Ti6Al4V. De l'anàlisi geomètric i de dilució química dels cordons obtinguts amb diversos nivells en les variables de processat làser es va aconseguir identificar combinacions que minimitzen defectes com esquerdes, alta dilució i relació d'aspecte inadequades. S'ha trobat una relació directa entre la velocitat de refredament i els paràmetres del procés làser coaxial, tal com la quantitat de pols aportat i la velocitat de passada. D'aquesta manera el procés ha estat optimitzat minimitzant la velocitat de refredament amb la disminució de la velocitat de passada. D'aquesta anàlisi s'ha seleccionat com a temperatura adequada de preescalfament 350 ºC i s'han obtingut recobriments amb un 40% de solapament, utilitzant paràmetres de procés que generen energies especifiques aportades pel làser de 70, 80, 90 i 180 J/mm2, els quals han estat avaluats mitjançant microscòpia òptica (MO), microscòpia electrònica de rastreig (MER), difracció de raigs X (DRX), microduresa Vickers (HV) i nanoindentació. La microestructura dels recobriments es compon de fases gamma-TiAl i alfa2-Ti3Al. El preescalfament del substrat ha permès l'obtenció de recobriments amb bona unió metal·lúrgica, tot i que s'observen per a algunes condicions esquerdes i porus. S'observa que la variació en la composició química de la superfície del recobriment al substrat és l'esperada, amb baixa dilució del vanadi. La duresa dels recobriments obtinguts és més alta que la del substrat, i en els assajos de flexió es va observar que els recobriments tenen bona adherència però limitada ductilitat. El comportament tribològic dels recobriments mostra que en els assajos de desgast a temperatura ambient s'obté una taxa de desgast menor per part dels recobriments comparats amb el substrat. Per al cas d'alta temperatura, els recobriments presenten un menor coeficient de fricció, però, s'obté una major taxa de desgast quan es compara amb el substrat. Dels assajos d'oxidació isotèrmica es va observar que els recobriments tenen bona resistència a l'oxidació en aire a 800ºC, al comparar-los amb el substrat, arribant a obtenir capes d'òxids de fins a 12 micres de gruix a 150 hores d'oxidació. L'estructura de les capes d'òxids és complexa i comprèn el creixement de capes successives a partir de la superfície externa del recobriment. També s'ha estudiat el comportament a corrosió electroquímica dels recobriments obtinguts. Els resultats indiquen que el plaquejat làser coaxial pot ser una bona alternativa per a l'obtenció de recobriments amb intermetàl·lic TiAl, obtenint recobriments densos, amb bona unió al substrat i mínims defectes, que milloren el comportament davant l'oxidació i el desgast de l'aliatge Ti6Al4V. / Zambrano Carrullo, JC. (2015). Desarrollo y caracterización de recubrimientos TiAl mediante procesado láser coaxial sobre Ti6Al4V [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/56148

This thesis presents the first research on polymer-segmented-cladding-fibre (PSCF), an emerging class of microstructured- optical-fibres (MOFs), which allows single-mode operation with ultra-large-core area. This research covers the modelling, design, fabrication and experiment of the polymer optical cross-fibre (4-period-SCF) whose cross-sectional view resembles a cross. A new wedge waveguide model has been formulated and applied to demonstrate that for any given parameters, the cross fibre gives the same performance for single-mode operation as the N-period-SCFs (for N = 2, 6 and 8). These fibres behave identically if the high-index segment angle, θ1, is the same and the low-index segment angular width, θ2, is sufficiently large for negligible adjacent mode coupling effects. This remarkable finding has significant ramifications for SCF fabrication, design and performance. Theoretical predictions confirmed by experiments demonstrated that a cross-fibre is all that needed to fabricate a large-core single-mode-fibre with no geometry-induced birefringence. The high-index outer ring effects on the cross fibre single-mode performance have been systematically investigated for the first time. The study reveals that the ring index value higher than its core index has very strong effects on single-mode performance. Within a narrow range of θ1, the minimum fibre length required for single-mode operation is reduced but outside this angle range, longer single-mode length is required. Furthermore, the fibre can be anti-guiding if θ1 exceeds the cutoff angle. Incorporating the fabrication constraints, the optimal cross-fibre design with high-index ring is achieved by optimising the relative index difference, high-index segment angle and core-cladding diameter ratio. Two preform-making techniques developed for the cross-fibres fabrication include the cladding-segment-in-tube method and the core-cladding-segment-in-tube method. The innovative approach in these methods overcomes the problems of bubble formation and fractures, which are related to the fibre structure complexity and the polymer intrinsic properties and their processing. It enables the successful drawing of single-mode fibres. This thesis reports the first experimental demonstration of single-mode operation of large-core cross-fibre. Three experimental studies with different cross-fibre designs have demonstrated (i) large-core single-mode operation, (ii) high-index ring effects on fibre performance and (iii) cross-fibre optimal design trial. Apart from this, the 8-period-SCF fibre performance has been demonstrated experimentally.

This thesis presents the first research on polymer-segmented-cladding-fibre (PSCF), an emerging class of microstructured- optical-fibres (MOFs), which allows single-mode operation with ultra-large-core area. This research covers the modelling, design, fabrication and experiment of the polymer optical cross-fibre (4-period-SCF) whose cross-sectional view resembles a cross. A new wedge waveguide model has been formulated and applied to demonstrate that for any given parameters, the cross fibre gives the same performance for single-mode operation as the N-period-SCFs (for N = 2, 6 and 8). These fibres behave identically if the high-index segment angle, θ1, is the same and the low-index segment angular width, θ2, is sufficiently large for negligible adjacent mode coupling effects. This remarkable finding has significant ramifications for SCF fabrication, design and performance. Theoretical predictions confirmed by experiments demonstrated that a cross-fibre is all that needed to fabricate a large-core single-mode-fibre with no geometry-induced birefringence. The high-index outer ring effects on the cross fibre single-mode performance have been systematically investigated for the first time. The study reveals that the ring index value higher than its core index has very strong effects on single-mode performance. Within a narrow range of θ1, the minimum fibre length required for single-mode operation is reduced but outside this angle range, longer single-mode length is required. Furthermore, the fibre can be anti-guiding if θ1 exceeds the cutoff angle. Incorporating the fabrication constraints, the optimal cross-fibre design with high-index ring is achieved by optimising the relative index difference, high-index segment angle and core-cladding diameter ratio. Two preform-making techniques developed for the cross-fibres fabrication include the cladding-segment-in-tube method and the core-cladding-segment-in-tube method. The innovative approach in these methods overcomes the problems of bubble formation and fractures, which are related to the fibre structure complexity and the polymer intrinsic properties and their processing. It enables the successful drawing of single-mode fibres. This thesis reports the first experimental demonstration of single-mode operation of large-core cross-fibre. Three experimental studies with different cross-fibre designs have demonstrated (i) large-core single-mode operation, (ii) high-index ring effects on fibre performance and (iii) cross-fibre optimal design trial. Apart from this, the 8-period-SCF fibre performance has been demonstrated experimentally.

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