Fission induced swelling of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel

Abstract

Fission-induced swelling of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel meat was measured using microscopy images obtained from post-irradiation examination. The data of reduced-size plate-type test samples and rodtype test samples were employed for this work. A model to predict the meat swelling of U-Mo/Al dispersion fuel was developed. This model is composed of several submodels including a model for interaction layer (IL) growth between U-Mo and Al matrix, a model for IL thickness to IL volume conversion, a correlation for the fission-induced swelling of U-Mo alloy particles, a correlation for the fission-induced swelling of IL, and models of U-Mo and Al consumption by IL growth. The model was validated using full-size plate data that were not included in the model development.