Integral Experiments Data, Databases, Benchmarks and Safety Joint Projects
NEA-1858 IFPE/CANDU-FIO-130.
last modified: 16-JAN-2023 | catalog | new | search |

NEA-1858 IFPE/CANDU-FIO-130.

IFPE/CANDU-FIO-130, CANDU experiment FIO-130 Fuel Behaviour under LOCA Conditions

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1. NAME OF EXPERIMENT

IFPE/CANDU-FIO-130

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2. COMPUTERS

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Program name Package id Status Status date
IFPE/CANDU-FIO-130 NEA-1858/02 Arrived 16-JAN-2023

Machines used:

Package ID Orig. computer Test computer
NEA-1858/02 Many Computers
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3. DESCRIPTION

The EXP-FIO-130 experiment, performed in the NRX (National Research Experimental) reactor at the Chalk River Laboratories in 1983, was a part of an experimental program on fuel performance under high-temperature transient conditions such as those associated with the onset of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA).

 

The NRX was a heavy-water moderated, light-water cooled reactor with a graphite neutron reflector. NRX had two in-reactor loops, X-2 and X-4, which were used as experimental facilities. Low- and high-pressure experiments could be performed in NRX using a flow tube designed to use the normal reactor cooling system.

 

The main purpose of the EXP-FIO-130 experiment was to provide quantitative code validation data and information on the thermal and mechanical behaviour of Zircaloy-sheathed UO2 fuel elements during LOCA conditions.

 

An instrumented, Zircaloy-sheathed UO2 fuel element assembly, previously irradiated to a burnup of 32 MWh/kgU and average linear power of 50 kW/m during a soak irradiation phase, was subjected to a coolant depressurization (blowdown) transient in the X-2 pressurized water loop of the NRX reactor. The fuel element used 1.3 wt% U-235 in uranium dioxide fuel clad with Zircaloy-4 sheath material.

 

The fuel assembly was instrumented with thermocouples for the fuel, fuel sheath and coolant, pressure transducers for element internal and coolant pressures, and a flux detector. The instrumentation provided data throughout the soak irradiation and subsequent blowdowns.

 

Post-irradiation examination (PIE) of the fuel element assembly included visual examination, photography, sheath profilometry measurements, neutron radiography, and Metallography, including fuel grain size measurements. Chemical burnup and fission-gas measurements were not acquired.

 

Another in-reactor LOCA experiment, the EXP-FIO-131 experiment, was conducted in 1983, using a similar, unirradiated, fuel element. The purpose of conducting the same test on both an irradiated element (EXP-FIO-130) and an unirradiated element (EXP-FIO-131) was to demonstrate that irradiation has a negligible effect on high-temperature sheath strain.

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9. STATUS
Package ID Status date Status
NEA-1858/02 16-JAN-2023 Masterfiled restricted
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10. REFERENCES
NEA-1858/02, included references:
- P.J. Fehrenbach, J.A. Walsworth, R. C. Spencer, W.R. Chase and R. D. Delaney:
In-Reactor LOCA Tests of Zircaloy-Sheathed UO2 Fuel at Chalk River, AECL Report
AECL-8974, June 1985, Proceedings of 6th CNS Annual Conference, June 1985,
p.11.14-11.19
- J.A. Walsworth, P.J. Fehrenbach, and R. C. Spencer: "Comparisons between
ELOCA Code Calculations and CANDU Fuel Behaviour Under LOCA Conditions",
Proceedings of 6th CNS Annual Conference, June 1985, p.11.28-11.35
- P.J. Fehrenbach, P.J., Hastings, I.J., Walsworth, J.A., Spencer, R.C.,
Lipsett, J.J., Hunt, C.E.L., Delaney, R.D.: "Zircaloy-Sheathed UO2 Fuel
Performance During In-Reactor LOCA Transients", AECL-8569, 1984 October,
Proceedings of Fifth International Meeting on Thermal Nuclear Reactor Safety,
1984 September 9-13, Karlsruhe, West Germany
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12. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE(S) USED
No specified programming language
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15. AUTHORS

Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd.

Chalk River Laboratories

Chalk River

Ontario, K0J 1J0

CANADA

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16. MATERIAL AVAILABLE
NEA-1858/02
2nd_Transient_Data.xls
Sheath_Temperatures.txt
Fuel_Peripheral_Temperatures.txt
Coolant_Pressure.txt
Coolant_Temperatures.txt
FIO-130_List_of_Ancillary_Data.txt
FIO-130_Report.txt      EXP-FIO-130 Experiment information
FIO-130_Figures\        Figures (TIF and PNG)
FIO-130_Tables\         17 individual tables
FIO-130.pdf             EXP-FIO-130 Experiment information
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17. CATEGORIES
  • Y. Integral Experiments Data, Databases, Benchmarks

Keywords: CANDU, fuel behaviour, loss-of-coolant accident.