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BWXT will scout potential TRISO fuel production sites in Wyoming
BWX Technologies Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technologies subsidiary has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Wyoming to evaluate locations and requirements for siting a potential new TRISO nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state.
Martin L. Grossbeck, Kenneth C. Liu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 58 | Number 3 | September 1982 | Pages 538-547
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT82-A32987
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Received July 6, 1981 Accepted for Publication March 18, 1982 In a tokamak reactor that operates in a cyclic mode, thermal stresses will result in fatigue in structural components, especially in the first wall and blanket. There has been limited work on fatigue in irradiated alloys, but none on irradiated materials containing irradiation-induced helium, which will be characteristic of fusion service. Specimens of 20% cold-worked Type 316 stainless steel were irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, which produces atomic displacement damage as well as helium through a two-step neutron absorption reaction with nickel. The specimens were irradiated at 430°C to up to 15 dpa and 900 at. ppm helium. Following irradiation, specimens were tested in a vacuum at the irradiation temperature with total strain ranges from 0.30 to 2.0%. The irradiated specimens exhibited a reduction in fatigue life of a factor of 3 to 10 compared to unirradiated material. An endurance limit was observed at a total strain range of 0.3%) for irradiated material. A fracture mechanism with surface morphology similar to cleavage, believed to be related to precipitation along slip bands, was observed in the irradiated specimens. The endurance limit occurs at a sufficiently high strain that fusion machines built to existing designs would be able to operate with Type 316 stainless steel first walls at 430°C. Since the specimens have been irradiated to damage levels only as high as 15 dpa, the equivalent of ∼1.5 MWyr/m2, it can be safely inferred that wall exposure can be at least this high without fatigue failure.