ML20107A712
Text
-
,.. ~
33[
e.
3-
- 5
- UNITED STATES
[ ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION N
- WASHINGTON, D.C. _80845
~ Docket No. 50-219'
~
Jersey Central Power 6 Light Company
ATTN:.' Mr. R. H. Sims Vice President' Madison Avenue at Punch Bowl Road Morristown, New Jersey 07960
-Gentlemen:.
h*
_ By letter dated April 4,1973, you submitted kaendment 72 to t e
' Application for Operating License for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station that requested authorization to receive, possess and store up to 1,000 kilograms of contained plutonium 239 and 241 and to use up to In 10 kilograras in connection with four Pu0 -UO ' lead assemblies.
2 2
support of the use of the mixed oxide fuel,'you also submitted Supplement No._2 to Facility Change Request No. 4 that presented the o
You safety, transient and accident analyses for a mixed oxide core.
requested these authorizations be promptly revidwed and approved since
,the four lead mixed oxide fuel assemblies had to be shipped from the 4
fuel' manufacturer and loading was to commence in mid-April 1973 and be completed in May 1973.
We reviewed the above submittals but did not have sufficient time toAlso complete our evaluation in order to meet your refueling schedule.
we' find that we would require additional infomation in order for us to L-complete an evaluation of the use of any significant amount of mixed oxide fuel assemblies in the Oyster Creek reactor. A preliminary list Information of questions =is enclosed as Attachment A lo this letter.
in response to these questions should be included in any future appli--
cation for the use of mixed oxide fuel in the Oyster Creek reactor in order to. facilitate our review and a timely submittal would be required in order for us,to meet your refueling schedule.
SL:e Cycle -3 operation has already commenced, as authorized by our letter dated May 25, 1973, we do not intend to take any action in regard to' Amendment.72 or Supplement 2 to Facility Change Request No. 4, which
\\
3 q
e,o
')
9604150089 960213
.i PDR-FOIA- -
PDR g
4
.DEKOK95-258
e' d
a, t
Jersey Central Power.
g y3 g 6 Light Company
- 4 we' interpreted to apply to Cycle 3 operation, until further application by you for any intended use of mixed oxide fuel.
Sincerely,
,fl?p.p;ll'vholt?bb'Y D6ns1d J.'
o Assistan Director for Operating Reactors l
i
, Directorate of Licensing
Enclosure:
AttachmentA '
cc: w/ enclosure George F. Trowbridge, Esquire 1
'Shaw, Pittman, Potts, Trowbridge'6 Madden 910 - 17th Street, N. W.'
Washington, D. C.
20006 GPU Service Corporation ATIN: Mr. Thomas... Crimins Safety 6 Licensing Manager 260 Cherry Hill Road Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 1
4 b
4
(
ATTAONENT A Particle size distribution.
1.
Provide the expected Pu02 2.
Provide details of the neutron spectrum calculations for mixed oxide cells; include (a) agglomeration effects of the Pu02 particles, (b) assumed fission spectrum,
.(c) microscopic cross section data source, (d) slowing down and themal group structure, (e) - themal neutron scattering kernel, (f) resonance overlap effects.
Are your fine'stmeture constants normalized to experimental predictions or are they obtained from original (e.g., ENDF/B) data?
3.
Discuss how the neutron spectmm calculational model predicts experi-mental data.for:
(a) control rod worths-in mixed oxide lattices, (b) rod-to-rod and bundle-to-bundle power distributions in regions con-taining control rods, burnable poisons, and/or water slots, 1
(c) temperature coefficient calculations throughout fuel liferime, (d) integral absorption cross section measurements.
4.
Calculate the effect of Puo2 Particle size and Pu enrichment on the Doppler coefficient. Provide details of, the calculational model.
5.
Discuss the change of Puo2 particle agglomeration during a reactor transient. Provide the resulting reactivity changes and details of the i
L calculational model employed.
6.
Provide the initial loadings of all Pu isotopes.
7.
For the pertinent mixed oxide fuel composition, provide the time history of:
(a) transuranium isotope concentrations, (b) saturating fission product poisons, (c) nonsaturating lumped fission product poisors, (d) fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity, (e) _ moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity.
Compare the above with the values for UO2 core.
I
l. A j
4 l
)
8.
Compare your burnup calculational model with existing experimental data.
J 9.
Provide details and justification' for the shutdown decay heat curve employed for the mi.xed oxide assemblies.
- 10. Compare the effects of densification of mixed o'ide fuels with those of x
fuels; specifically, compare local flux peaking, gap conductance, and UO2 fuel diameter and length changes. hhat lattice configuration of UO2 and mixed oxide rods provides the worst situation for fuel densification?
- 11. Compare the calculated axial and radial peaking factors for type IIIE and type IV fuel configurations. Proiride comparative core and fuel assembly power distributions and assumed burnup for the " worst case" power distributions for IDCA, control rod drop accident, and. control fod withdrawal error.
- 12. The Koo of the cold clean type IV core is significantly different from the type IIIE core value. hhat effect does tais have on control rod worths and sequencing?
- 13. For the rod drop accident:
(a) Compare the shape of the scram reactivity vs time curves with those of cycle 3, type IIIE, and type IV fuels; (b) Compare the shape of the reactivity insertion rate due to the dropped rod for the above core loadings; (c) For an assumed peak pellet energy deposition of 280 cal /gm, compare the expected number of fuel pins at 170 cal /gm for the UO2 and mixed oxide cores; 4
(d) Compare the effects of Puo2 particle agglomeration and distribution on the 280 cal /gm fuel energy design limit; (e) Extend Figure 7 of Supplement 2 to Facility Change Reqast No. 4 to include the entire range of dropped rod wo'rths.
- 14. Describe, in detail, the process used to fabricate the mixed oxide fuels; are the fuels fabricated by mechanical blending of Puo2 and UO.
2 coprecipitated in aqueous solution, or some other method? Details re-garding batch sizes, temperatures, product characteristics, etc., are requested. Discuss in detail:
(a) Receiving and storing of nuclear materials (solutions, oxide powders, sintered pellets, process scrap, fuel rods, and fuel assemblies.
[
N 2 - U0 mixed-(b) Conversion of Pu-nitrate solution to Pu02 or Pu0 2
oxide powders or sol-gel mixtures.
(c) Powder processing (calcining, hydrogen reduction, screening, ball milling,-blending, prepressing, granulating, and binder or lubricant
-addition).
(d) Powder Properties - what is the mean particle diameter, particle size
-distribution, and specific surface of the powder? H:1 do these vary from batch to batch? Provide chemical analyses including O/M, sorbed gases, metallic and non-metallic impurities.
(e). Pressing Parameters - what pressures were used? hhat type dies and punches? hhat were the gredn pellet densities (mean values and standard deviations)?
(f) Sintering Parameters - provide a complete description of the sintering cycle, including heating rates, soak times, and cooling rates. hhat l
were the furnace atmospheres (include approximate concentration of impurities).
(g) Surface Finishing - what methodM:used'to finish the pellets and to what specifications?
(h) Resintering Parameters - are the pellets reheated? To what heating l
cycle? Cite reasons for choice of temperatures, times, and atmospheres.
(i)
Inspection - what procedures were used to inspect the pellets and what bases for acceptance or rejection were used?
- 15. Pellet Characterization - What were the fuel pellet specifications for dimensions, density, Pu content, Pu isotopic composition, Pu homogeneity, 0/M, ::~
or gas content, impurity limits, and microstructure? Specifically include information on:
j i
(a) Mean immersion and geometric densities, standard deviations and minimum densities.
(b) Microstructure - hhat were the average grain sizes, grain size distributions, pore morphology and location, and axial and radial i
distributions of grain size and porosity in the fuci pellets (if not uniform). Provide sample photo-micrographs of typical (or atypical) pellets; show both etched and as-polished microstructures.
9 4
1 a
i a
D i
4 o
(c) Dimensions - Provide statistical distributions. hhat were the minimum dimensions? Provide a drawing or sketch illustrating the end configuration of the pellets.
(d)- Chemical Properties - hhat were the 0/M ratios, impurities (metallic 6 non-metallic) and specifications for the sintered pellets? (See question 26.)
- 16. - Describe, in detail, the fuel element assembly, receiving, packaging and shipping. hhat special handling techniques or processing precedures are used in the fabrication or use of Pu fuel assemblies?
- 17. How might Pu-redistribution during irradiation affect densification and
~
themal performance of the fuel?, How do the Puo2 additions affect fission product migration?
- 18. hhat differences in fission gas release are there with mixed-oxide themal reactor fuels as compared-to UO2?
(See question 26.)
- 19. hhat effects will the Puo2 additions have on material properties such as melting point, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, etc., as fabricated and as a function of burn-up to end-of-life?
(See question 21.)
- 20. Describe the design and results of any tests for detennining the relative densification,~4 welling, and fission product retention of mixed oxide i
fuel and U02 fuel.
1
- 21. Provide a detailed description of your gap conductance and fuel temperature calculation technique for the mixed oxides for the Puo2 contents intended.
Include a description of all models used such as themal expansion, fission gas release, fuel thermal conductivity, etc. Give references for all models used.
s
- 22. Using the model described in request no.21, compare calculated gap conductances and/or fuel temperatures with experimental data in the same range of parameters as the fuel of interest.
- 23. Provide calculations of gap conductance and fuel temperatures as a function of time and burnup. Resolve the gap conductance into components for con-tributions through the gas, solid-solid contact and radiation. Also prescat hot gap size, fuel pellet diameter and conductivity of gas mixture as a function of time.
Provide the following input data needed for GAPCCN for gap conductance calculations:
(a) diameter of pellet (b)
ID 4 OD of clad 2
(c) enrichment of fuel
v.-
~ -(
e
.5-(d)1 density of fuel (t theoretical)
(4) olenum volume (f) active fuel pellet length (g) sorbed gas content (cc/ gram)
(h) surface zeughness of clad and fuel (i) coolant temperature and pressure (j). film coefficient between cla,dding and coolant (k) initial fill gas pressure and composition J24.. Provide a calculation of the maximum axial compressive stresses in a fuel pellet during full power operation.
Include in this calculation the pellet-to-pellet contact areas and the compressive loads (spring and pellet weights) assumed.
25, Of gas released from the mixed oxide fuels, wha't is the assumed (or measured) composition (both sorbed and fission gas)? Provide a comparison of the gas mixture thermal conductivity model with experimental data (or a reference which contains this comparison).
- 26. hhat methods are used to ensure Pu micro-homogenity in the fuel pellets?
Are representative mixed-oxide fuel pellets examined for adequate PuC2 homogenity?
- 27. Describe all fuel fabrication procedures used to lower the incidence of hydride-caused failure's of the zircaloy 21 adding.
- 28. Discuss the differences in radiation levels for new and spent fuel associated with mixed oxides as compared to U02 in particular, the neutron radiations, hhat precautionary procedures are taken in fabricating these fuels, beyond the usual for UO ? Discuss the effects of light element impurities on 2
neutron yield; compare calculations with experimental data.
- 29. Discuss the restructuring phenomena in mixed-oxide fuel ta compared to UO -
2 khat effect does restructuring have on Pu distribution? How is Pu - re-distribution affected by stoichi;mctry?
30.
Discuss compatibility of zircaloy-clad with mixed-oxide fuel.
Include a discussion of the 0/M ratio effects with burnup on fuel-clad compatibility.
i
44 l
6-e,
- 31. Describe any effects that the mixed oxide core might have on the scram reactivity vs time curve for all transient analysis cases, such as turbine trip with and without bypass.
t'
- b g
W O
4 i
L
-c--_____.
___