Why a fast flux for a research reactor? The Phenix experimental program

Why a fast flux for a research reactor? The Phenix experimental program J. GUIDEZ L. MARTIN J. DUMESNIL 1

CONTENTS 1. Background on the experimental conditions at Phenix The flux The Measurements in the Reactor The experimental setups The non destructive testing in Phenix Hot cells 2. Phenix operation 3. Experimental irradiation 4. Conclusion 2

EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS AT PHENIX COMPARISON OF NEUTRON FLUX Fast flux (n/cm 2.s) Thermal flux (n/cm 2.s) Dose rate PWR power reactor OSIRIS, HFR, BR2 type research reactor Phénix reactor 1.3.10 14 0.9.10 14 2 dpa/year 2 to 4.10 14 4 à 7.10 14 3 dpa/year Fast spectrum 4.4.10 15 18 dpa/ 6-month cycle Neutron Flux in a fast reactor increases test efficiency. 3

EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS AT PHENIX TEMPERATURE Core inlet/outlet: 380/550 C MEASUREMENTS S/A inlet/outlet T : 380/550 C Sodium sampling at S/A outlet Argon gas blanket analysis Failure pin location system 4

EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS AT PHENIX EXPERIMENTAL RIG AND CARRIER 5

NON DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION at PHENIX HOT CELLS 6

PHENIX HOT CELLS The hot cells of PHENIX are directly connected to the external fuel storage drum where irradiated assemblies decay after their discharge from the reactor. Purposes of the hot cells Dismantling of spent subassemblies and rigs : Non destructive test subassemblies and pins after dismantling. subassemblies and pin deformations (visual inspection and profilometry), eddy currents, neutronography, gamma spectrometry. quick results can be obtained on the subassemblies and pins behaviour (less than 6 months after discharge from the core). Pins failure identification. Remanufacture of new rigs with irradiated pins. 7

IRRADIATED ELEMENT CELL Pin co ndi tio nin g Evacuation duct Test beam Part to annex cell Pin measuring bed Sub-assemblies Measuring bed Neutronography pit Eddyt Bed Washing pit Storage Pit Barrel extraction port Spetrometry bed General purpose beam DIMEP pit Apparatus for instrumentation and in-pile Sheath storage measurement Dimensions : 14 m lenght 6,5 width 9 m heigth : 800 m 3 Atmosphere : nitrogene IEC - IRRADIATED < 2 % O 2 ELEMENTS. CELL 1 300 subasssemblies dismantled Few hundred examinations 8

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING Pin diameter measurement by LASER technic Pin diameter length Neutronography Tir N 760, Nimphe 2, KCI 6710, 04-12-03 Gamma spectrometry 9

2004 OPERATION DIAGRAM Power Operation 350 300 51th cycle 2004 Reactor critical 52nd cycle 200 100 Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 14th Feb. to 6th March Planned shut-down for refuelling and maintenance. The experiment MATINA 1A was removed. 8th of Aug. End of 51st cycle (131 EFPD) From mid August to November 15th of Dec. Planned shutdown for maintenance, control and refuelling; removal of the experiment METAPHIX. Connection to the grid in 2004 Nb of days of operation: 202 Availability factor: 73.6 % Net electricity production : 626 Gwh electric 10

2005 OPERATION DIAGRAM 350 300 200 AM3 AM4 AM5 100 2005 Janvier Février Mars Avril Mai Juin Juillet Août Septembre Octobre Novembre Décembre Power Operation Reactor critical Planned operation 3 Planned shut-down for refuelling and maintenance Reactor fortuitous shutdowns: 19 Jan: feedwater leak 30 Jan: secondary pump trip 6 Feb :power trip treshhold setting in 2005 EFPD : 51 Availability factor: 80 % 19 March: loss of compressed air circuit 11

FUTURE OPERATION of the PLANT 5 cycles of 120 EFPD equivalent to about 4.5 years of operation 2004 2005 2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 51-2 52-1 52-2 53-1 53-2 54-1 2007 2008 2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 54-2 55-1 55-2 56-1 56-2 80% Load factor 12

PHENIX EXPERIMENTAL IRRADIATION PROGRAMME GENERAL IRRADIATION DATA ACQUISITION Neutronic data (cross sections of MA and FP) Structural material testing TRANSMUTATION TESTS Fuel irradiation for homogeneous METAPHIX mode Target irradiation for heterogeneous mode Constituent materials (Inert matrices, moderators) MATINA 1A / 2-3 Irradiation of actinide-based compounds (Americium) Irradiation of targets containing long-lived fission products (Technetium 99) - Fuel irradiation for future systems Fuels with high minor actinide compound. OTHERS EXPERIMENTS Irradiation of high Pu content fuel PROFIL R M MATRIX ECRIX CAMIX-COCHIX ANTICORP FUTURIX CAPRIX 13

PROFIL-R SUB-ASSEMBLY Measurement of MA and LLFP cross sections in fast (PROFIL-R) and moderated (PROFIL-M) neutron flux Cask Isotope Body Few milligrams 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 Profil-R pins Reference standard pin Height 10 mm PROFIL-R container Spacers PROFIL-R pins Containers 14

LLFP TRANSMUTATION: ANTICORP 1 Capsule: 3 pins with two pieces of 99Tc metal Moderator carrier Transmutation rate target: 25% 15

ECRIX EXPERIMENTS: OBJECTIVES First experiment of Am transmutation in specific target in a fast reactor Testing two concepts of «once trough» transmutation by using local moderation spectrum: 1. 11 B 4 C : ECRIX-B Transmutation rate objectives 80 90 % 2. CaH 2 : ECRIX-H Development of fabrication and characterisation techniques 1. Fuel fabrication process (metallurgy powder) which can be applied to the industrial scale (Fabrication of 100 pellets) 2. Property measurements* Irradiation started at Phenix in 2003. * Collaboration with ITU/Karlsruhe 16

ECRIX EXPERIMENTS: PIN DESIGN Microstruture : Inert matrix : Fuel Particles: CERCER Microdispersed type MgO AmO1,62 Cladding Am content : 0,7g of Am/cm3 2,75 g/column UO 2 pellets φ = 5,25 mm Fissile column with americium target - pellets Black Porosités elements en noir: porosities White AmOelements x en blanc : AmOx particle UO 2 pellets Grey MgO area en gris : magnesia 500 µm 17

ECRIX EXPERIMENTS: SUB-ASSEMBLY DESIGN ECRIX B and H : Transmutation of Americium in MgO inert matrix, pins located inside special moderating carriers) ECRIX : moderator sub-assembly and capsule cross section 18

TRANSMUTATION RATES IN PWR COMPARED TO PHENIX MODERATED FLUX 10 0 90 80 70 60 Américium target in PWR : - Evolution of compositions - Evolution of Am transmutation rate et global fission rate Pu Am Cm taux de transmutation Am taux de fission At technological limit one obtains : fission rate ~25% transmutation rate ~90% remaining mass contents : 55% Pu, 10%Am et 10% Cm % 50 40 Technological limit 30 20 10 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 EFPD Americium target in PHENIX moderating spectrum : - Evolution of compositions - Evolution of Am transmutation rate and global fission rate 100 90 80 70 60 At technological limit one obtains : fission rate ~95% transmutation rate ~100% remaining mass contents : 3% Pu, 0%Am et 2% Cm % 50 40 30 20 10 Technological limit (200 DPA NRT) 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 100 0 110 0 120 0 130 0 140 0 150 0 160 0 170 0 180 0 190 0 200 0 EFPD 19

HOMOGENEOUS TRANSMUTATION EXPERIMENT METAPHIX: Irradiation of Actinides diluted in metal fuel (UPuZr+MA+RE) Contract with ITU Karsrhue for CRIEPI 1 2 3 Core center plane 3 capsules containing 3 pins each 71 19Pu 10Zr U 67U 19Pu 10Zr 2A.M. 2T.R. Experimental pins 2,4at % 7 at % Standard pins 36 33 32 31 30 12 11 10 4 4 4 Std Std Std 34 Coeur 1 Coeur 1 Coeur 1 14 12 29 13 15 4 13 3 11 9 4 2 4 4 Std Std Std Coeur 1 MET-2 Coeur 1 Coeur 1 35 16 2 10 28 14 17 5 3 1 1 2 9 4 8 4 Std Std Std 4 1 Std 4 Coeur 1 Coeur 1 Coeur 1 MET-1 Coeur 1 18 4 6 8 37 15 19 6 5 7 7 19 26 Std Coeur 1 38 4 3 4 Std MET-3 Coeur 1 20 22 24 16 21 17 23 18 4 Std Coeur 1 4 Std Coeur 1 4 Std Coeur 1 4 Std Coeur 1 25 27 66U 19Pu 10Zr 5A.M. 39 40 41 42 61U 1 9Pu 10Zr 5A.M. 5T.R. 11 at % Capsule content 20

INERT MATRIX TESTING MATINA 1A : Re-irradiation of MATINA 1 experiment dismantled in 1996 (first selection of most promising matrices). Remove in 2004, non destructive testing did not show any disturbances (swelling, fractures). 21

CAPRIX 1 EXPERIMENT Irradiation of high Pu content fuel To assess: Thermal-mechanical behaviour of the pin Radial Pu redistribution Cladding Internal corrosion Reprocessing 2 pins: 45% Pu /(U+Pu) enrichment pellets with 17 driver fuel pins in a capsule Target burn-up : 10 at% 22

Experiment progress in % of target 23 25.01% 49.28% 99.97% 43.54% 26.13% 99.67% 23.27% 74.40% 91.12% 69.81% 26.33% 60.31% 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% % donr % to be done CAPRIX 1 PNC P6 PROFIL R Progress (%) ECRIX B ECRIX H METAPHIX 1 METAPHIX 2 METAPHIX 3 MATINA 1A ANTICORP 1 ELIXIR SUPERNOVA

CORE LOCATION OF IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS 24

FUTURE EXPERIMENTS Optimisation of target for Americium transmutation CAMIX (Composé d AMéricium dans PhénIX) : optimisation of actinide compound COCHIX (Conception Optimisée vis-à-vis des microstructures dans PHénIX) : testing of new microstructures (macromasses) dispersed in inert matrix MATINA 2-3 testing of CERamics/CERamics targets with a MgO matrix and macrodispersed particles and of new materials Fuel for future systems FUTURIX/FTA (FUels for Transmutation of transuranien elements in PhénIX/Fortes Teneurs en Actinides testing of Metal, nitride, CER/MET, CER/CER fuels with high TRU content Collaboration with US/DOE, ITU, CRIEPI Materials for future systems MATRIX : irradiation of structural materials (metals, ceramics) 25

CONCLUSIONS The unique fast breeder reactor in Europe PHENIX plant operated well into 2004 Availability factor 73% in 2004 Removal of 2 experiments MATINA 1A and METAPHIX Transmutation experimental programme in progress for: Americium, Technetium 99, inert matrix for heterogeneous transmutation (ECRIX, ANTICORP, MATINA) Homogeneous transmutation (METAPHIX ) Neutronic datas (PROFIL) which shall provide a validation of a wide range of concepts Irradiation of high PU content fuel (CAPRIX). Preparation of future experiments for the next cycles. 26