Book Description
The first low-enriched U3Si2-Al dispersion plate-type fuel element produced at the Nuclear Fuel Element Center, BATAN, Indonesia, was irradiated to a peak 235U burnup of 62%. Postirradiation examinations performed to data shows the irradiation behavior of this element to be similar to that of U3Si2-Al plate-type fuel produced and tested at other institutions. The main effect of irradiation on the fuel plates is a thickness increase of 30--40 [mu]m (2.5-3.0%). This thickness increase is almost entirely due to the formation of a corrosion layer (Boehmite). The contribution of fuel swelling to the thickness increase is rather small (less than 10 [mu]m) commensurate with the burnup of the fuel and the relatively moderate as-fabricated fuel volume fraction of 27% in the fuel meat.