Fabrication development for the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor

This report presents the fuel fabrication development for the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor. The fuel element is similar to that successfully fabricated and used in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) for many years, but there are two significant differences that require some development. The fuel compound is U{sub 3}Si{sub 2} rather than U{sub 3}O{sub 8}, and the fuel is graded in the axial as well as the radial direction. Both of these changes can be accomplished with a straightforward extension of the HFIR technology. The ANS also requires some improvements in inspection technology and somewhat more stringent acceptance criteria. Early indications were that the fuel fabrication and inspection technology would produce a reactor core meeting the requirements of the ANS for the low volume fraction loadings needed for the highly enriched uranium design (up to 1.7 Mg U/m{sup 3}). Near the end of the development work, higher volume fractions were fabricated that would be required for a lower- enrichment uranium core. Again, results look encouraging for loadings up to {approx}3.5 Mg U/m{sup 3}; however, much less evaluation was done for the higher loadings