NEA-1595 IFPE/CONTACT REV.1.
IFPE/CONTACT REV.1, PWR Fuel Performance Tests Siloe Reactor
NAME OF EXPERIMENT, COMPUTER, DESCRIPTION, STATUS, REFERENCES, LANGUAGE, ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS, MATERIAL, CATEGORIES
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| Program name | Package id | Status | Status date |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFPE/CONTACT REV.1 | NEA-1595/02 | Arrived | 27-JAN-2003 |
Machines used:
| Package ID | Orig. computer | Test computer |
|---|---|---|
| NEA-1595/02 | Many Computers |
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3. DESCRIPTION
The CONTACT series of experiments was a programme of in-pile tests conducted in the Siloe reactor, Grenoble. They were short rods of Zr-4 clad UO2 pellets of typical PWR 17x17 design. The purpose of the experiments was to improve the understanding of fuel rod performance.
Two designs of fuel pellet were investigated in separate tandem rods. The experiments described here are those employing only standard commercial quality Framatome pellets. Each rod contained 5 enriched pellets with an Al2O3 insulator pellet at each end of the column. The plenum at the top of the rod contained an inconel spring to mechanically restrain the column.
The rods were irradiated in a pressurized water loop whose location could be moved during irradiation in order to maintain the desired power level in the experimental rod. In this way, near constant power was maintained throughout each experiment.
CONTACT 1 was irradiated between October 1978 and July 1980 at a constant power level close to 40 kW/m to a discharge burn-up of ~22 MWd/kgU. During irradiation, the internal pressure was 1 MPa of helium.
CONTACT 2 was irradiated between January 1979 and November 1979 at a constant power of ~25 kW/m and an internal helium pressure between 0.1-0.2 MPa. The rod was discharged early because of a failure at a burn-up of ~5.5 MWd/kgU and replaced with the identical design rod CONTACT 2bis.
CONTACT 2bis commenced irradiation in April 1980 and was discharged in June 1981 at a burn-up of 12.4 MWd/kgU after the accidental introduction of a quantity of air into the water loop. During irradiation the power was maintained at ~25kW/m and the internal pressure was 0.1-0.2 MPa helium.
The CONTACT series of experiments was a programme of in-pile tests conducted in the Siloe reactor, Grenoble. They were short rods of Zr-4 clad UO2 pellets of typical PWR 17x17 design. The purpose of the experiments was to improve the understanding of fuel rod performance.
Two designs of fuel pellet were investigated in separate tandem rods. The experiments described here are those employing only standard commercial quality Framatome pellets. Each rod contained 5 enriched pellets with an Al2O3 insulator pellet at each end of the column. The plenum at the top of the rod contained an inconel spring to mechanically restrain the column.
The rods were irradiated in a pressurized water loop whose location could be moved during irradiation in order to maintain the desired power level in the experimental rod. In this way, near constant power was maintained throughout each experiment.
CONTACT 1 was irradiated between October 1978 and July 1980 at a constant power level close to 40 kW/m to a discharge burn-up of ~22 MWd/kgU. During irradiation, the internal pressure was 1 MPa of helium.
CONTACT 2 was irradiated between January 1979 and November 1979 at a constant power of ~25 kW/m and an internal helium pressure between 0.1-0.2 MPa. The rod was discharged early because of a failure at a burn-up of ~5.5 MWd/kgU and replaced with the identical design rod CONTACT 2bis.
CONTACT 2bis commenced irradiation in April 1980 and was discharged in June 1981 at a burn-up of 12.4 MWd/kgU after the accidental introduction of a quantity of air into the water loop. During irradiation the power was maintained at ~25kW/m and the internal pressure was 0.1-0.2 MPa helium.
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10. REFERENCES
M Charles and P Chenebault:
"Mechanisms of Fission Gas Release from Different Types of Fuel Rods
during Normal Operation: Results and Analysis of "CONTACT" Experiments",
ANS Topical Meeting on Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance", Orlando, Florida, USA, 22-24 April 1985.
M Charles and P Chenebault:
"Mechanisms of Fission Gas Release from Different Types of Fuel Rods
during Normal Operation: Results and Analysis of "CONTACT" Experiments",
ANS Topical Meeting on Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance", Orlando, Florida, USA, 22-24 April 1985.
NEA-1595/02, included references:
- M. Bruet, J. Dodalier, P. Melin and M. L. Pointud:CONTACT 1 and 2 Experiments: Behaviour of PWR Fuel Rod up to 15000
MWd/tu, IAEA Specialists' Meeting on Water Reactor Fuel Element
Performance Computer Modelling, Blackpool, UK, 17-21 March 1980.
- M. Charles, J. J. Abassin, D. Baron, M. Bruet and P. Melin:
Utilization of CONTACT Experiments to Improve the Fission Gas Release
Knowledge in PWR Fuel Rods, IAEA Specialists' Meeting on Water Reactor
Fuel Elements Performance Computer Modelling, Preston, UK, March 1982.
- M. Charles and C. Lemaignan:
Fuel performance under normal PWR conditions: A review of relevant,
experimental results and models, J. Nucl. Mater. 188(1992) 96-103
- J. A. Turnbull:
A model for calculating the gap inventory of 131-I in
intact fuel rods, BNES Conference on Nuclear Fuel Performance,
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, 1985.
- J.A. Turnbull:
A Comparison and Interpretation of Radioactive Fission Gas Release
Data from Several Swept Fuel Experiments
TPRD/B/0405/N84 - PWR/FBWG/P(83)151 (March 1984)
- OECD/NEA/IAEA Fuel Performance Database, Dataset: CONTACT
Presentation (05/02/98)
- C. Baudusseau:
Programme CONTACT Crayon combustible - Specifications techniques
Compte rendu DMG 30/77 (4 aout 1977)
- Plan d'Ensemble crayon CONTACT 1 et 2
DMG SER 780401 (27 novembre 1978)
- Plan d'Ensemble crayon CONTACT 2bis
DMG SER 790601 (27 novembre 1978)
- M. Bruet:
Etalonnage de Puissance des Dispositifs CONTACT - 400 et 250 W/cm
Compte rendu DMG 77/78 (3 juillet 1978)
- C. Baudusseau:
Fiche de Fabrication des Crayons Combustibles CONTACT 1 et CONTACT 2
DMG/SER/79-30 (17 janvier 1979)
- C. Baudusseau:
Experience CONTACT Dossier 3
Fiche de Fabrication du Crayon Combustible CONTACT 2 BIS
Compte Rendu DMG 110/80 (28 octobre 1980)
- M. Bruet:
Experiences CONTACT 1 et 2 Dossier 3
Resultats d'irradiation du 1.04.79
Compte rendu DMG 18/79 (24 aout 1979)
- M. Bruet:
Experiences CONTACT 1 et 2 Dossier 4 bis
Resultats d'irradiation du 1.04.79 a la fin des experiences
Compte rendu DMG 14/81 (12 mai 1981)
- J.J. Abassin:
Experiences CONTACT 2 BIS et CONTACT 3
Relachement des gaz de fission
C.R. DMG 34/81 (14 decembre 1981)
- D. Verne:
Experiences CONTACT 2 bis Dossier 4
Resultats d'irradiation
C.R. DMG 14/83 (22 avril 1983)
- Y. Kauffmann et M. Bruet:
CONTACT 2 Dossier 5 : examens apres irradiation
Compte rendu DMG 81/21 (25 aout 1981)
- D. Verne et G. Christin:
Experience CONTACT 2 bis Dossier 5 - Examen apres irradiation
Compte rendu DMG 26/83 (21 juillet 1983)
- D. Verne et G. Christin:
Experience CONTACT 1 Dossier 5 - Examens apres irradiation
Compte rendu DMG 40/83 (1er decembre 1983)
- M. Bruet, M. Charles, P. Melin:
Programme CONTACT Dossier 6 - Synthese des resultats
Compte-rendu DMG 21/85 (30 aout 1985)
- M. Charles, P. Chenebault, Ph. Melin:
Mecanismes de relachement des gaz de fission dans divers types de
crayons combustibles en fonctionnement normal : resultats et analyse
des experiences CONTACT
Compte rendu DMG 11/85 (19 fevrier 1985)
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NEA-1595/02
CONTACT.SUM Text file giving a description of the experimentsIRR-HIS.C1 Irradiation histories for rod 1
IRR-HIS.C2 Irradiation histories for rod 2
IRR-HIS.C2BIS Irradiation histories for rod 2bis
READ.ME Readme file
Review of CONTACT experiments (Word and PDF formats)
TEMPS.ALL Recorded temperature (deg C) at constant power for all rods
CLAD-DI.C12 dD=(Diam.-initial Diam.) at zero reactor power for Rods 1&2bis
PRESS-D.ALL Pressure drop (MPa) versus Burn-up (MWd/kgU) for all rods
KR85.ALL Fractional release of 85-Kr versus Burn-up (MWd/kgU) for all rods
SHORTL.ALL (R/B) values for all isotopes measured versus Burn-up(MWd/kgU)
FPR-TF.C12 (R/B) values for 85m-Kr versus Centreline Temperature for rods 1 and
2
QA Report for CONTACT experiments (in PDF format)
Keywords: experimental data, fission gas release, fuel elements, fuel rods, pwr reactors.