Postirradiation examination of capsule P13Q. [HTGR]

Capsule P13Q was the sixth in a series of irradiation tests conducted under the HTGR Fuels and Core Development Program. It was the first accelerated irradiation test of large-diameter graphite-fuel bodies irradiated to peak LHTGR fast fluences. The primary purpose of the test was to evaluate the irradiation performance of the integral bodies and cured-in-place fuel rods. One TRISO UC/sub 2/ and two BISO ThO/sub 2/ coated particle batches were used in the fuel rods. The postirradiation examination revealed that the performance of the H-451 graphite bodies and fuel rods irradiated to a peak fluence of 9.5 x 10/sup 25/ n/m/sup 2/ (E greater than 29 fJ)/sub HTGR/ and to an average peak fuel rod temperature of 1175/sup 0/C was acceptable. A range of fuel rod variables was tested and none were detrimental to the integrity of the rods. The coated fuel particles behaved in a manner predicted by previous irradiation data