Corrosion Damage and Mechanical Properties of BR-10 Reactor Fuel-Rod Cladding with Mononitride Uranium Fuel

Abstract

The results of investigations of the corrosion damage and short-time mechanical properties of the fuel-rod cladding and standard and experimental fuel assemblies of the BR-10 reactor with uranium mononitride fuel are presented. It is shown that after irradiation the corrosion depth in the fuel rods of the BR-10 reactor reached 75 μm for the standard and 180 μm for the experimental FA. Degradation of the mechanical properties of fuel-rod cladding also occurred. The corrosion and degradation of the mechanical properties of the cladding of BR-10 reactor fuel rods should be attributed primarily to the high level of impurities in the initial fuel.