NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED

(A Government of India Enterprise)

KAIGA GENERATING STATION

TRAINING MANUAL ON

NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

KGS-00000-TM-0003

Compiled By Checked By Reviewed By Approved By Revision No.

Rev-01
Aug 2014
S.Vittal, S. Vittal M.R.Velayudhan M. Seshaiah
SO/F, NTC SO/F, NTC STO (O) TS

Next Revision due - August 2019

 Revision Control Sheet

Revision Prepared Compiled Checked Reviewed Approved Reason for

No By By By By By Revision
Rev- 1 S. Vittal
Not S. Vittal, M.R.Velayudhan G.K. Jha Periodic
November
applicable SO/F, NTC SO/F,NTC STO(O) TS revision
2013
Rev-0
February19 S M Sandhya, Not K. Ramamurthy D.C Thakur N.Rajasabai, Not
95 SO/C applicable OS DSS SD applicable
 INDEX

S. No. Title Page No.

1.0 Nuclear Fuel Cycle 4
2.0 Type of Fuel Cycles 5
3.0 Three Stage Indian Nuclear Power Programme 6
4.0 Enrichment Basics 6
5.0 Nuclear Fuels 7
6.0 Cladding Materials 11
7.0 Fuel Element 12
8.0 Type of Nuclear Fuel Bundle Assembly 13
9.0 Fuel Operational Behavior 19
10.0 Fuel Handling at Stations 22
11.0 Fast Reactor and Research Reactor Fuels 23
12.0 Fuel Fabrication 23
13.0 Over view of Reprocessing 25
14.0 Nuclear Waste Management 26
References, books, web sites 28
Annexure : Figures
This page is kept blank intentionally
1.0 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

Nuclear Fuel Cycle can be defined as the set of processes to make

use of nuclear materials and to return it to normal state. It starts
with the mining of unused nuclear materials from the nature and
ends with the safe disposal of used nuclear material in the nature.
To produce energy from Uranium in a nuclear reactor, it must be
passed through in a series of different processes. The complete set of
processes to make nuclear fuel from uranium ore is known as front
end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The processes in the front end of the
nuclear cycle are mining and milling, conversion, enrichment and
fuel fabrication.
After producing energy in the reactor, nuclear fuel becomes spent
fuel. Spent fuel has also to be processed in a storage facility or in a
reprocessing facility if it is being recycled. Temporary storage,
reprocessing, long-term storage, or final storage of spent fuel are
together called back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
The front end of the cycle is divided in to the following steps:

1.1 Exploration:

Ore bodies containing uranium are first located by drilling and other
geological techniques. Ores in known deposits for which enough
information is available to estimate the quantity, and which are
considered to be economically minable, are called reserves. Ores
inferred to exist but as yet undiscovered are called potential
resources. The most common uranium ores are uraninite,
pitchblende and carnotite and coffinite etc.

1.2 Mining:
Uranium-bearing ores are mined by methods similar to those used
for other metal ores. The uranium ore is removed from the ground by
underground mining, open-pit mining, or by in-situ recovery. In
general, open pit mining is used where deposits are close to the
surface and underground mining is used for deep deposits, typically
greater than 120 m deep or so. Open pit mines require large holes on
the surface, larger than the size of the ore deposit, since the walls of
the pit must be sloped to prevent collapse. As a result, the quantity
of material that must be removed in order to access the ore may be
large. Underground mines have relatively small surface disturbance
and the quantity of material that must be removed to access the ore
is considerably less than in the case of an open pit mine. Special
precautions, consisting primarily of increased ventilation, are
required in underground mines to protect against airborne radiation
exposure.

An increasing proportion of the world's uranium now comes from in

situ leach (ISL) mining, where oxygenated groundwater is circulated
through a very porous ore body to dissolve the uranium oxide and
bring it to the surface. ISL may be with slightly acid or with alkaline
 solutions to keep the uranium in solution. The uranium oxide is
then recovered from the solution as in a conventional mill.
The decision as to which mining method to use for a particular
deposit is governed by the nature of the ore body, safety and
economic considerations.
In India mainly open-pit mining & underground mining is used for
uranium ore in Jharkhand state from the Jaduguda, Bhatin,
Turamdih, Bagjata, Banduhurang and Mohuldih Mines. A new
mining & mill operation started recently at Tummalapalle uranium
mine in Andhra Pradesh state.

1.3 Milling:
Milling, which is generally carried out close to a uranium mine to
reduce transportation cost, extracts the uranium from the ore. Most
mining facilities include a mill, although where mines are close
together, one mill may process the ore from several mines. Milling
produces a uranium oxide concentrate which is shipped from the
mill to the central purification facility. It is sometimes referred to as
'yellowcake' and generally contains more than 80% uranium. The
original ore may contain as little as 0.1% uranium or even less.

In a mill, uranium is extracted from the crushed and ground-up ore

by leaching, in which either a strong acid or a strong alkaline
solution is used to dissolve the uranium oxide. The uranium oxide is
then precipitated and removed from the solution. After drying and
usually heating it is packed in 200-litre drums as a concentrate,
sometimes referred to as 'yellowcake'.

The remainder of the ore, containing most of the radioactivity and

nearly all the rock material, becomes tailings, which are emplaced in
engineered facilities near the mine (often in mined out pit). Tailings
need to be isolated from the environment because they contain long-
lived radioactive materials in low concentrations and toxic materials
such as heavy metals; however, the total quantity of radioactive
elements is less than in the original ore, and their collective
radioactivity will be much shorter-lived.

In India the ore from Jaduguda, Bhatin and Narwapahar Mine are
processed in the centralized processing plant (Mill) located close to
Jaduguda Mine & a new mill at Turamdih has been set up to treat
the ore produced from Turamdih and Banduhurang mines .
Uranium is extracted from ore in the Jaduguda Mill by hydro-
metallurgical process. After three stages of crushing, the crushed ore
undergoes two stages of wet grinding. The slurry thus obtained is
pumped to the leaching pachucas for dissolution of Uranium. The
leached slurry is filtered to obtain Uranium liquor.

The Uranium liquor is purified and concentrated by ion exchange

method. The Uranium is then precipitated from this concentrated
liquor as magnesium Di-Uranate, generally known as "YELLOW
CAKE". This is thickened, washed, filtered and dried in the spray
dryer and finally packed in drums and then sent to Nuclear Fuel
 Complex at Hyderabad for further processing into UO2 pellets.

1.4 Conversion:
The term conversion refers to the process of purifying the uranium
concentrate and converting it to the chemical form required for the
next stage of the nuclear fuel cycle. There are three such forms in
common usage: metal, oxide (UO2) and uranium hexafluoride (UF6).
UF6 is the predominant product at this stage of the nuclear fuel
cycle since it is easily converted to a gas for the enrichment stage, as
employed in world's most common reactor types (LWRs). For the
PHWR fuel cycle, which generally uses natural uranium oxide as the
fuel, conversion to the UF6 is unnecessary. Uranium is purified and
converted to UO2 or UO3. The Magnox fuel cycle uses natural
uranium in metal form. So the feed for this stage is U3O8
concentrate, and the products are UF6, oxide (UO2 or UO3) or
metal, in applicability order.

1.5 Enrichment:
Uranium naturally consists of about 0.71 w/o % of 235U isotope
which is the main energy source in thermal reactors. For LWR
technology which is the most common reactor type, it is impossible
to build a nuclear reactor with the natural occurrence of 235U, so the
235U content should be increased with a special process. This
process is called enrichment. There two commercially available
technologies: gaseous diffusion and centrifuge. Both techniques are
based on the slightly different masses of the uranium isotopes
nuclei. So the enrichment is defined as the process of increasing the
amount of 235U contained in a unit quantity of uranium. The feed for
this stage is Natural UF6 and the product is enriched UF6. The other
output of the process is the uranium which has lower fissile content
than the natural uranium. It is known as enrichment tail or depleted
uranium.

1.6 Fuel Fabrication:

Enriched uranium in UF6 form is converted to UO2 powder to make
fuel for LWR technology. This powder then is formed into pellets,
sintered to achieve the desired density and ground to the required
dimensions. Fuel pellets are loaded into tubes of zircaloy or stainless
steel, which are sealed at both ends. These fuel rods are spaced in
fixed parallel arrays to form the reactor fuel assemblies. The whole
process is referred as fuel fabrication. The similar procedure is
adopted for natural uranium oxide fuel for some reactor types. The
feed of this process is enriched or natural uranium oxide powder and
the product is fuel assembly.

The back end of the cycle is divided in to the following steps:

a. Interim Storage:
After its operating cycle, the reactor is shut down for refueling.
The fuel discharged at that time (spent fuel) is stored either at
the reactor site, or potentially, in a common facility away from
reactor sites. If on-site pool capacity is exceeded, it may be
 stored in modular dry storage facilities at the site or at a
facility away from the reactor site. The spent fuel assemblies
are usually stored in water, which provides both cooling (the
spent fuel continues to generate heat as a result of residual
radioactive decay) and shielding (to protect the environment
from residual ionizing radiation).

b. Reprocessing:
Spent fuel discharged from reactors contains appreciable
quantities of unused U-235, Pu-239, and other radioactive
materials. These materials can be chemically separated and
recovered from the spent fuel. The recovered uranium and
plutonium can, if economic and institutional conditions
permit, be recycled for use as nuclear fuel.

c. Waste Disposal:
A current concern in the nuclear energy is the safe disposal
and isolation of high-level radioactive wastes in the form of
either spent fuel rods or, if the reprocessing option is used,
wastes from reprocessing plants. These wastes must be
isolated from the biosphere until the radioactivity contained in
them has diminished to a safe level. Current plans generally
call for the ultimate disposal of the wastes in solid form in
deep, stable geologic structures.

2.0 TYPES OF NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES

There are two fuel cycle options: 'open' (or once-through) fuel cycle
(without reuse of nuclear materials) and' closed' fuel cycle (with
reuse of nuclear materials extracted from irradiated fuel).

Choosing the 'closed' or 'open' fuel cycle is a matter of national

policy. Some countries have adopted the 'closed' fuel cycle solution,
and some others have chosen the 'open' fuel cycle.

2.1 Open fuel cycle:

The open fuel cycle is the mode of operation in which the nuclear
material passes through the reactor just once. After irradiation, the
fuel is kept in at-reactor pools until it is sent to away from- reactor
storage. It is planned that the fuel will be conditioned and put into a
final repository in this mode of operation. This fuel cycle strategy is
the one currently adopted by many nuclear power countries mainly
USA & Canada. However, no final repositories for spent fuel have yet
been established. This strategy is definitely applied today for light
water reactors (LWRs) pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) and
graphite moderated light water cooled reactors (RBMK) in USA,
Canada & Russia respectively.
2.2 Closed fuel cycle:

The closed fuel cycle is the mode of operation in which, after a

sufficient cooling period, the spent fuel is reprocessed to extract the
remaining uranium and plutonium from the fission products and
other actinides. The reprocessed uranium and plutonium is then
reused in the reactors. This recycle strategy has been adopted by
some countries mainly in light water reactors (LWR) in the form of
mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. Apart from the current LWR recycling
experience, another closed fuel cycle practice is the recycle of
nuclear materials in fast reactors in which, reprocessed uranium
and plutonium are used for production of fast reactor (FR) fuel. By
suitable operation, such a reactor can produce more fissile
plutonium than it consumes.

Kalpakkam has the unique distinction of being the only place in the
world, where all the three fissile isotopes viz., U-235 [MAPS], Pu-239
[FBTR] & U-233 [KAMINI] are used as fuel in reactors.

3.0 THREE STAGES OF NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM

The Indian nuclear programme was conceived based on, unique

sequential three-stages and associated technologies essentially to
aim at optimum utilization of the indigenous nuclear resource profile
of modest Uranium and abundant Thorium resources. This
sequential three-stage program is based on a closed fuel cycle, where
the spent fuel of one stage is reprocessed to produce fuel for the next
stage. The closed fuel cycle thus multiplies manifold the energy
potential of the fuel and greatly reduces the quantity of waste
generated.

The first stage comprises of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors

fuelled by natural uranium. Natural uranium contains only 0.7% of
Uranium235, which undergoes fission to release energy
(200Mev/atom). The remaining 99.3% comprises Uranium238 which
is not fissile however it is converted in the nuclear reactor, to fissile
element Pu 239. In the fission process, among other fission
products, a small quantity of Plutonium239 is formed by
transmutation of Uranium238.

The second stage, comprising of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) are

fuelled by mixed oxide of Uranium238 and Plutonium239, recovered
by reprocessing of the first stage spent fuel. In FBRs, Plutonium239
undergoes fission producing energy, and producing Plutonium239 by
transmutation of Uranium238. Thus the FBRs produce energy and
fuel, hence termed Breeders. FBRs produce more fuel than they
consume. Over a period of time, Plutonium inventory can be built up
by feeding Uranium238. Thorium232, which constitutes world's
third largest reserves in India, is not fissile therefore needs to be
converted to a fissile material, Uranium233, by transmutation in a
fast breeder reactor. This is to be achieved through second stage of
the program, consisting of commercial operation of Fast Breeder
Reactors (FBRs).
 In the second stage, once sufficient inventory of Plutonium239 is
built up, Thorium232 will be introduced as a blanket material to be
converted to Uranium233.

The AHWR is another innovative concept, which will act as a bridge

between the first and third stage essentially to advance thorium
utilization without undergoing second stage of the three stage
program. It uses light water as coolant and heavy water as
moderator. It is fuelled by a mixture of Plutonium239 and
Thorium232, with a sizeable amount of power coming from
Thorium232.

4.0 ENRICHMENT BASICS

The problem of enriching uranium is a formidable one because it

requires the separation of two isotopes, 235U and 238U, which have
nearly the same atomic weight. Ordinary chemical separation is out
of the question, of course, since both isotopes are the same element-
uranium. Separation must be accomplished, therefore, by physical
means, and several processes have been developed for this purpose.
Before describing some of these processes, it is useful to consider
some of the basic relationships that underlie isotope separation.

4.1 Gaseous Diffusion:

Gaseous diffusion is based on the separation effect arising from

molecular effusion (i.e., the flow of gas through small holes). In a
vessel containing a mixture of two gases, molecules of the gas with
lower molecular weight (U235 as opposed to the heavier and more
plentiful U238) travel faster and strike the walls of the vessel more
frequently, relative to their concentration, than do molecules with
higher molecular weight. Because the walls of the vessel are semi-
permeable, more of the lighter molecules flow through the wall than
the heavier molecules. As such, gas that passes through the walls of
the vessel is slightly enriched in the lighter isotope. Currently, the
United States uses the gaseous diffusion process to enrich uranium.
There are two gaseous diffusion plants in the United States.

4.2 Gas Centrifuge:

The gas centrifuge process has been widely used in Europe for about
30 years to enrich uranium for the commercial nuclear power
market. The process uses a large number of rotating cylinders
interconnected to form cascades. The UF6 gas is placed in the
cylinder, which is then rotated at a high speed. The rotation creates
a strong centrifugal force that draws more of the heavier gas
molecules (containing the U238) toward the wall of the cylinder,
while the lighter gas molecules (containing the U235) tend to collect
closer to the center. The stream that is slightly enriched in U235 is
withdrawn and fed into the next higher stage, while the slightly
depleted stream is recycled back into the next lower stage.
Significantly more U235 enrichment can be obtained from a single
gas centrifuge cascade than from a single gaseous diffusion stage.
Two gas centrifuge enrichment plants are currently under
 construction in the United States.

5.0 NUCLEAR FUELS

Nuclear fuels are classified as metallic, ceramic, and dispersions.

The metallic fuels are generally alloyed to improve their resistance to
irradiation and corrosion. Ceramic fuels include the oxides, carbides,
and nitrides. Dispersion fuels include two-phase metallic fuels and
dispersions of ceramic fuels in metal or ceramic or graphite matrices.
Uranium can be employed in the form of:
-A pure metal
-A constituent of an alloy
(U-Al, U-Mg, U-Mo) -An
oxide -A Carbide -Others
(UN, U3Si)
Fuel elements must maintain its physical, mechanical and chemical
stability such that: -

• High thermal conductivity is available

• Material should be resistant to radiation damage
• Chemically stable in the event of cladding failure
• Material has high melting point with no phase
transformation
• Permit economical fabrication
• Material has a low coefficient of expansion
• With high fissile/fertile content and absent of other
high n-cross section absorbing atoms

A. Metallic Fuels:

Uranium alloys have been used in the fuel elements in the early
nuclear power reactors. Metallic uranium is produced by the
reduction of uranium tetrafluoride by magnesium or calcium in a
pressure vessel. Uranium fuel rods are produced by casting,
rolling, extrusion, machining, and heat treating. Uranium
undergoes three phase changes up to its melting point, namely,
the alpha (orthorhombic) up to 666 °C, beta (tetragonal) from 666
to 771 °C, and the gamma (body centered cubic)from 771 to
1130°C (melting point). Anisotropic alpha-uranium is subject to
dimensional changes under both thermal cycling and nuclear
irradiation. The changes are governed by the structure and
composition as well as temperature and burnup. Metallic
uranium fuels are generally limited to operation below
approximately 600 °C maximum temperature and to relatively
low burnups of about 5 MWd/kg U because of irradiation
damage. Swelling and growth become excessive primarily
because of fission gas bubbles at high temperatures and the
formation of lattice defects (vacancies, interstitials, dislocation
 loops, etc.) as low temperature. Irradiation creep is also a
problem at low temperatures. There is little swelling below about
400°C. The growth reaches a maximum in the range 400-600°C.
Above approximately 700°C, fission gas swelling predominates.

B. Oxide Fuels:

The dioxides of Th, U, and Pu have the face-centered cubic

fluorite structure. They are completely miscible in solid solution.
Uranium dioxide can take up oxygen interstitially to form
hyperstoichiometric UO2+x, where x may be as high as 0.25 at
high temperatures. As the temperature is lowered, a phase
having the composition U4O9 precipitates. Hypostoichiometric
oxides of uranium UO2-x form under conditions of low oxygen
partial pressure at high temperatures and revert to
stoichiometric UO2 precipitating U on cooling. Unsintered, finely
divided UO2 powders oxidize to U3O8 at room temperature when
exposed to air. The dioxides of Pu and Th form only the
stoichiometric dioxides because of the stability of the Th4+ and
Pu4+. In UO2-PuO2 solutions, Pu4+ may be reduced to Pu3+.

1. Uranium Dioxide

Uranium dioxide is the most widely used fuel material in nuclear

power reactors, usually in the form of cylindrical, cold-pressed,
and sintered pellets with densities in the range of 92-97% of the
theoretical. The properties that combine to make UO2 such a
unique fuel material are (1) high melting point (2800°C), (2)
chemical stability in water cooled reactors, (3) compatibility with
cladding (Zircaloy and stainless steel), (4) excellent irradiation
stability, and (5) ease of fabrication. Deviations of composition
from stoichiometry have a profound influence on the properties
of UO2, diminishing the already low thermal conductivity,
lowering the melting point and strength, increasing creep and
fission product migration and release, and altering the complex
irradiation behavior. The increase in oxygen activity with burnup
can be very significant in leading rods in LWRs (5% burnup) and
in fast breeder reactor fuels (over 10% burnup). The allowable
values of the thermal conductivity integral and the temperatures
within pellets have been estimated from observation of
microstructure; for example, the melting point boundary
corresponds to 2865°C, columnar grain growth to 1700°C, and
equiaxed growth to 1500°C. The reported integral conductivity
values from 500°C to melting range from 63 to 73 W/cm. The
thermal conductivity of UO2 decreases as the O/U ratio is
increased. The melting point of stoichiometric UO2 is 2865 ±
15°C. It drops to 2425°C at on O/U ratio of 1.68 and to 2500C at
an O/U ratio of 2.25. The lowering of the melting point to 2620°C
at a burn up of 1.5 X 1021 fissions/cm3 has been reported.
Particularly striking among the behavioral features of UO2 is the
large increase, as the O/metal exceeds 2, in the rate of creep,
sintering, diffusion, and other processes depending on mobile
defects.
C. Plutonium Oxide Fuels:

Plutonium is obtained by neutron capture from 238U because

only an insignificant amount occurs in nature. Plutonium serves
as a fissile fuel in both fast and thermal reactors. The fissile
isotopes 239Pu 241Pu produced from 238U can replace some of
the 235U in thermal reactors. However, the most efficient and
economical use of plutonium is in fast breeder reactors, where
more 239Pu and 241 Pu are produced than are fissioned in situ.
Plutonium is derived by chemical reprocessing from irradiated
fuel containing 238U.

D. Carbide Fuels:

There are three compounds in the uranium-carbon system: UC,

U2C3, and UC2. The UC has the highest uranium density, has a
face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, and is stoichiometric at a
4.8 wt. % carbon composition. Compared with UO2, UC has a
higher uranium density, has at least five times greater thermal
conductivity, and is almost as refractory. The compatibility of UC
with stainless steel depends on the stoichiometric and whether
the gap between pellet and cladding is filled with gas or sodium.
The cladding acts as a sink for carbon, and sodium enhances the
transport of carbon from the fuel to the cladding. The
decarburized fuel tends to crack, and the carburized cladding
loses ductility quickly, even at 600°C. With a gas gap, there is no
significant interaction with stainless steel cladding below about
800°C. The mixed carbides, UC-PuC, offer a significant
improvement in breeding and a shorter doubling time through
their higher metal-atom density and thermal conductivity. The
disadvantages of the carbide fuels are the difficulty of control of
composition (stoichiometry) to be compatible with the cladding
and the sodium coolant and to minimize swelling, and the lack of
adequate irradiation experience at high burnups and elevated
temperatures. Cost studies indicate that carbide-fueled fast
reactors have a fuel-cycle cost advantage over the oxide fueled
reactors. Compared with mixed-oxide fuels, the mixed-carbide
fuels have higher heavy-metal density (13 versus 9.7 g/cm3),
better neutron economics, greater thermal conductivity (10 times
greater), higher linear heat rate capability [1485 W/cm (45
kW/ft) for carbide] and specific power [up to 500 W/g (U + Pu)],
improved breeding gain, and lower fuel-cycle cost when
compared with oxide fuel at the same burnup. With carbide fuels
prevention of carbon transport from the fuel to the cladding
material or vice versa requires control of the chemical potential of
carbon in the fuel (e.g., by using stoichiometric UC composition:
by stabilizing the fuel with small additions of Cr, V, or Mo; or by
Cr plating the pellets). Both carbide and nitride fuels have good
compatibility with sodium but relatively poor oxidation
resistance.

E. Nitride Fuels:

Uranium mononitride UN has been studied fairly extensively as a

 reactor fuel but has not been used in any reactor. It possesses a
combination of desirable properties: a FCC NaCl structure, a
high melting temperature (2850°C for congruent melting at and
above 2.5 atm of nitrogen), good thermal conductivity, high
uranium density (14.32 g/cm3), and compatibility with most
potential cladding materials, and good irradiation stability and
fission product retention. A disadvantage is the parasitic capture
of neutrons in the transmutation of nitrogen atoms by the (n, a)
and (n, p) reactions and the release of nitrogen during the burn
up of nitride fuel. The stability of UN in air is much higher than
that of UC.

6.0 CLADDING MATERIALS

Nuclear fuels require surface protection to retain fission products

and minimize corrosion. Also, pelletized fuel requires a tubular
container to hold the pellets in the required physical configuration.
The requirements for cladding material to serve these different
purposes will vary with the type of reactor. The cladding must:

• Isolate the fuel from the coolant

• Have a low neutron absorption cross-section
• Be corrosion-resistant, and in general be compatible
with the fuel and coolant
• conduct heat well
• Have a melting point well above the operating
temperature of the reactor. New designs of reactor may
well have higher operating temperatures.
• Adequate strength and ductility, especially to withstand
fuel swelling
• High stability under irradiation
• Low induced radioactivity.

The cladding is thus one of the most critical components in a

reactor, and its performance (esp. irradiation growth and corrosion
resistance) is often the key factor limiting attainable burn-up.

The requirement for low absorption points to, among other things,
the standard choices of cladding alloys: stainless steels (for more
exacting conditions in FBRs) and Zr alloys (in thermal reactors).

Four materials suitable for cladding:

• Aluminum is used for low power, water-cooled research,

training, and materials test reactors in which
temperatures are below 100 C.

• Magnesium is used for uranium metal fuel in carbon-

dioxide cooled, graphite moderated power reactors in
 United Kingdom.

• Zirconium is used for fuel-rod cladding in water-cooled

power reactors. Stainless steel is used for fast reactor
fuel cladding.

• Beryllium is suitable for use as cladding but is not used

as such due to its high cost and poor mechanical
properties. It is, however, used as a reflector in some
test reactors.

7.0 FUEL ELEMENT DESIGN

The smallest integral fuel-bearing component of a nuclear reactor is

the fuel element. In most commercial power reactors the fuel element
is a cylindrical tube filled with a ceramic fuel compound. Both light
and heavy water moderated power reactor fuel consists of bundles of
such elements. Most gas cooled reactors and all LMFBR utilize this
same basic fuel element geometry. The fuel element provides the first
line of fission product containment in the reactor. The fuel element
cladding is sealed to prevent escape of fission products to the
primary coolant system, fuel element operating limits are established
to preclude cladding failure during either steady state or anu
anticipated operational transient.

This chapter discusses the relationships between the fuel and clad
material properties, the fuel design parameters, and thermal
performance characteristics of metal clad, oxide fuel element.

Thermal Behaviour –
Heat generation rate and temperature distribution in a fuel.
Heat flux through cylinder;

Fission gas release - Fission products are responsible for

• Fuel swelling and PCMI (solid fission products)

• Stress corrosion cracking and failure (iodine)
• Pressure build-up in the fuel rod (xenon, krypton)
• Feedback on gap conductance and fuel temperature
• Rod overpressure and clad lift-off
• driving force for ballooning during LOCA
• Pressure build-up in the fuel pores
• Fuel fragmentation and expulsion during RIA and LOCA
• Gaseous swelling and PCMI (failure)

Rod pressure is limited by safety criteria and must therefore be

calculated for the safety case.
8.0 TYPES OF NUCLEAR FUEL ASSEMBLIES FOR DIFFERENT
REACTORS

Nuclear reactor cores have been designed with a wide variety of fuel
pin and assembly arrangements. Two lattice types are most
common: Circular, rectangular and hexagonal lattices. Rectangular
or square lattices are used mostly in light water reactor
designs(BWRs and PWRs), while hexagonal lattices are most
common in VVERs, gas- and sodium-cooled reactors. The PHWRs
and SGHWRs where moderator and coolant are separate use circular
tube concept.

There is considerable variation among fuel assemblies designed

for the different types of reactors. The typical detail of fuel
assembly and cores different reactor types is given in table below.

8.1 PHWR Fuel Bundle Design:

PHWR fuel rods are about 50 cm long and are assembled into
'bundles' approximately 10 cm in diameter. A fuel bundle comprises
19 or 37 fuel elements arranged in several rings around a central
axis (see Figure). Their short length means that they do not require
the support structures characteristic of other reactor fuel types.
PHWR fuel does not attain high burn-up, nor does it reside in the
reactor core for very long and so the fuel pellets swell very little
during their life. This means that PHWR fuel rods do not need to
maintain a pellet-cladding gap, nor be highly pressurized with a
filling gas (as for LWR fuel). The metal cladding is allowed to collapse
onto the fuel pellet thereby assuring good thermal contact. The fuel
bundles are loaded into horizontal channels or pressure tubes which
penetrate the length of the reactor vessel (known as the calandria),
and this can be done while the reactor is operating at full power.
About twelve bundles are loaded into each fuel channel depending
on the reactor.

The on-load refueling is a fully-automated process: new fuel is

inserted into a channel at one end and used fuel is collected at the
other. This feature means that the PHWR is inherently flexible with
its fuel requirements, and can run on different fuels requiring
different residence times, eg natural uranium, slightly enriched
uranium, plutonium-bearing fuels and thorium-based fuels.

A typical PHWR fuel bundle is the essence of simplicity. Only six

components are used as compared to seventeen components in BWR
and thirty six components in a PWR fuel. The fuel bundle consists of
a close packed array of elements structurally joined by end plates.
The elements are resistance welded to the end plates to form a
bundle half meter long.

The length of the bundle is decided from the following

 considerations:

• Fuel burnup and reactivity

• Ease of manufacture and handling

• Fuel rejection due to failures

The reference bundle length of 500 mm represents the best choice of

a dischargeable unit length. The fuelling machines are in fact
capable of handling bundles twice the reference length and bundles
are normally discharged from the channels in pairs.

Because of the short bundle concept, it becomes necessary to design

the end plates and the end caps with minimum amount of parasitic
material (as there will be 22 end plates and 418 end caps in the flux
in only one channel). Even a low absorber like zircaloy (0.2 barns)
had to be used as little as possible since undue separation of the
bundle ends would cause flux peaking in the end region. Such a
situation would adversely affect the performance as well as penalize
the uninfluenced portion of the fuel. The bundle end configuration is
based on a profiled end cap and a thin end plate design that
minimizes the separation between bundles. This end plate design
provides excellent resistance to deflections in the vertical plane while
permitting differential length changes in elements. The end cap
profile is functional on fuelling, heat dissipation and fuel location in
the channel. The application of resistance welding to the joints
between the end plate and the elements permits simple, rapid and
reliable assembly.

Bundle Geometry:

Selection of number of elements in a bundle involves a number of

variables. If the rod diameter is small, the heat transfer area per unit
mass of fuel will be large and high power density is possible.
However, greater subdivision of fuel will introduce vibration and
fretting problems and also increase the fabrication cost. Efficient
packing of the elements to achieve good neutron economy and for
keeping the coolant sub channel mixed is very important. These
requirements are best realized by circular arrangement of 7, 19 or 37
elements. Better matching of the sub-channel sizes can be achieved
with two sizes of elements in hexagonal arrangements in either 19 or
37 element bundles. However, this might pose practical fabrication
difficulties apart from increasing the fuel fabrication cost.

8.2 PWR Fuel:

Pressurized water reactors (PWRs) are the most common type of

nuclear reactor accounting for 66% of current installed nuclear
generating capacity worldwide. A PWR core uses normal water as
both moderator and primary coolant - this is kept under
considerable pressure (about 10 MPa) to prevent it from boiling, and
its temperature rises to about 330°C after its upward passage past
the fuel. It then goes through massive pipes to a steam generator.
 Fuel for western PWRs is built with a square lattice arrangement and
assemblies are characterized by the number of rods they contain,
typically, 17x17 to 19X19 designs. A PWR fuel assembly stands
between four and five meters high, is about 20 cm across and weighs
about half a tonne. The assembly has vacant rod positions - space
left for the vertical insertion of a control rod. Not every assembly
position requires fuel or a control rod, and a space may be
designated as a "guide thimble" into which a neutron source rod,
specific instrumentation, or a test fuel segment can be placed. A
PWR fuel assembly comprises a bottom nozzle into which rods are
fixed through the lattice and to finish the whole assembly it is
crowned by a top nozzle. The bottom and top nozzles are heavily
constructed as they provide much of the mechanical support for the
fuel assembly structure. In the finished assembly most rod
components will be fuel rods, but some will be guide thimbles, and
one or more are likely to be dedicated to instrumentation. A PWR
fuel assembly is shown in Figure 2. PWR fuel assemblies are rather
uniform compared with BWR ones. An 1100 MWe PWR core may
contain 193 fuel assemblies composed of over 50,000 fuel rods and
some 18 million fuel pellets. Once loaded, fuel stays in the core for
several years depending on the design of the operating cycle. During
refueling, every 12 to 18 months, some of the fuel - usually one third
or one quarter of the core - is removed to storage, while the
remainder is rearranged to a location in the core better suited to its
remaining level of enrichment.

Russian PWR reactors are usually known by the Russian acronym

VVER. These fuel assemblies are characterized by their hexagonal
arrangement, but are otherwise of similar length and structure to
other PWR fuel assemblies.

8.3 KK-VVER 1000 Fuel:

There are 163 nos. of fuel assemblies arranged in a lattice pattern

within the reactor core. Each fuel assembly has 331 locations out of
which 311 locations have enriched uranium di-oxide fuel pellets
contained inside Zr-Nb tubes. Out of the balance 20 locations 18 are
for control rods, one tube for instrumentation and one is kept empty
and is filled with primary coolant. All are arranged in hexagonal grid.
The fuel is uranium-enriched up to 4.1 %. Spring-loaded upper block
assembly keeps the fuel assemblies in their position. Stainless steel
spacer grids are located with interval of 255mm along the core
height. Loading and unloading of fuel is achieved with the help of
specially designed fuelling machine positioned above the reactor.

8.4 BWR Fuel:

Boiling water reactors (BWRs) are the second most common nuclear
reactor type accounting for about 22% of installed nuclear
generating capacity. In a boiling water reactor water is turned
directly to steam in the reactor pressure vessel at the top of the core
 and this steam (at about 290°C and 7 MPa) is then used to drive a
turbine. BWRs also use fuel rods comprising zirconium-clad
uranium oxide ceramic pellets. Their arrangement into assemblies is
again based on a square lattice, with pin geometries ranging from
6x6 to 10x10. Fuel life and management strategy is similar to that
for a PWR.

But BWR fuel is fundamentally different from PWR fuel in certain

ways: (i) Four fuel assemblies and a cruciform shaped control blade
form a 'fuel module', (ii) each assembly is isolated from its
neighbours by a water-filled zone in which the cruciform control rod
blades travel (they are inserted from the bottom of the reactor), (iii)
each BWR fuel assembly is enclosed in a zircaloy sheath which
directs the flow of coolant water through the assembly and during
this passage it reaches boiling point, (iv) BWR assemblies contain
larger diameter water channels - flexibly designed to provide
appropriate neutron moderation in the assembly.

The zircaloy tubes are allowed to fill with water thus increasing the
amount of moderator in the central region of the assembly. Different
enrichment levels are used in the rods in varying positions – lower
enrichments in the outer rods, and higher enrichments near the
centre of the bundle. A BWR reactor is designed to operate with 12-
15% of the water in the top part of the core as steam, and hence with
less moderating effect and thus efficiency there.

For many BWR models, control of reactivity to enable load-following

can be achieved by changing the rate of circulation inside the core.
Jet pumps located in the annulus between the outer wall of the
vessel and an inner wall called the shroud increase the flow of water
up through the fuel assembly. At high flow rates steam bubbles are
removed more quickly and hence moderation and reactivity is
increased. When flow rate is decreased, moderation decreases as
steam bubbles are present for longer and hence reactivity drops.
This allows for a variation of about 25% from the maximum rated
power output. Control rods are used when power levels are reduced
below 75%, but they are not part of the fuel assembly as in a PWR.
They are bottom-entry - pushed upwards so that rods intercept the
lower, more reactive, zone of the fuel assemblies first.

BWR fuel fabrication takes place in much the same way as PWR fuel.
A cross sectional diagram of a BWR assembly is shown in Figure 5.
BWR fuel assemblies therefore operate more as individual units.

8.5 TAPS BWR Fuel:

The basics design for the Tarapur fuel consists of thirty six, 0.5625
inch diameter rods arranged in a six-by-six array in each fuel
assembly. The fuel material is partially enriched UO2 pellets
contained in free standing Zr-2 tubing of 0.035 inch wall thickness.

In order to reduce the peak heat flux in the fuel rods adjacent to the
wider channel water gaps, the U-235 enrichment is varied. Of the
thirty-six fuel rods in an assembly, twenty-four have an enrichment
of 2.6 w/o U-235, eleven have an enrichment of 2.1 w/o U-235, and
 one has an enrichment of 1.6 w/o U-235. There two elements having
UO2+Gd2O3pellets. Gd is a burnable absorber, which suppresses
the initial excess reactivity.

The fuel pellets of the Tarapur design are sintered and ground to
cylindrical shape compacted to 94 percent theoretical density. Each
fuel rod has free plenum volume within the rod sufficient to prevent
excessive pressure build-up due to fission gas formation and other
gases liberated over the design life of the fuel. The fuel rods (144
inches active fuel length) are supported at top and bottom by
stainless steel tie plates and spaced by spring and wire grid spacers
at seven intermediate points.

The fuel assembly is secured by eight threaded fuel rods which have
safety locked nuts at the upper end plugs. The spacers are held in
place by a center segmented capture rod which maintains equal
spacing between spacers. Helical springs at the upper ends of each
rod allow for any relative expansions and / or manufacturing
variations in length. Gross pellet movement within the tubes during
fuel handling is prevented by a helical spring and wafer within the
fission gas plenums of the full length fuel rods. The void space in the
fuel rods is filled with helium at 2.5 kg/cm2 pressure during
fabrication. Each fuel bundle is contained in a Zircaloy-4 channel
which serves several functions. It guides and provides a bearing
surface for the control blades, provides for effective flow control in
combination with orificing of the fuel assembly support casting, and
provides mechanical support and protection of the fuel.

8.6 AGR Fuel:

The Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGR) is a second-generation UK-

designed nuclear reactor only used in UK. AGRs account for about
2.7% of total global nuclear generating capacity. They employ a
vertical fuel channel design, and use CO2 gas - a very weak
moderator - as the primary coolant. AGR fuel assemblies consist of a
circular array of 36 stainless steel clad fuel pins each containing 20
enriched UO2 fuel pellets, and the assembly weighs about 43
kilograms. Enrichment levels vary up to about 3.5%. Stainless steel
allows for higher operating temperatures but sacrifices some neutron
economy. The assembly is covered with a graphite sheath which
serves as a moderator. Eight assemblies are stacked end on end in a
fuel channel, inserted down through the top of the reactor. During
refueling this whole stack is replaced. Fuel life is about five years,
and refueling can be carried out on-load through a refueling
machine.

8.7 RBMK fuel:

The RBMK reactor is an early Soviet design. Eleven units are in

operation (3% of world total), with control systems and fuel greatly
modified since 1990. It employs vertical pressure tubes (just
under1700 of these, each about 7 meters long) running through a
large graphite moderator. The fuel is cooled by light water, which is
 allowed to boil in the primary circuit, much as in a BWR. RBMK fuel
rods are about 3.65 meters long, and a set of 18 forms a fuel bundle
about 8 cm diameter. Two bundles are joined together and capped at
either end by a top and bottom nozzle, to form a fuel assembly with
an overall length of about 10 meters, weighing 185 kilograms. Since
1990 RBMK fuel has had a higher enrichment level, increasing from
about 2% to average 2.8% (varying along the fuel element from 2.5%
to 3.2%) and it now includes about 0.6% erbium (a burnable
absorber). This has the effect of improving overall safety and
increasing fuel burn-up. This new fuel can stay in the reactor for
periods of up to six years before needing to be removed. All RBMK
reactors now use recycled uranium from VVER reactors. As with
other pressure tube designs such as the PHWR, the RBMK reactor is
capable of on-load refueling.

9.0 FUEL OPERATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

9.1 Duty and Environment:

The explanation in this chapter covers mainly the 220 MWe PHWR
fuel. The 220 MWe PHWR reactor core has 306 coolant channels. 12
fuel bundles are contained in each coolant channel. A total of 3672
fuel bundles are in the reactor .Out of the 12 fuel bundles, 10 full
bundles on each end of the coolant channel are in the reactor core
and participate in generating heat by nuclear fission.

The bundles are designed to generate heat by nuclear fission at

ratings and conditions consistent with the overall core design of 220
MWe reactor and to pass through any channel of the reactor and be
subjected to the conditions in that channel. They are designed with
sufficient strength to allow on-power refueling and the fuel handling
conditions. In normal operation, a bundle will be inserted in a
particular location in the fuel channel by a remotely controlled
fuelling machine.

During its stay in the reactor, the fuel is contained in Zr-2.5%Nb

coolant channels of minimum inside diameter 82.55 mm. The
coolant for primary system is heavy water (D2O) maintained at pH
between 9.5 and 10.5. Design flow in maximum rated channel is
13.9 kg/sec equivalent to an average flow velocity of 9.33 m/sec. The
nominal coolant inlet temperature is 249°C and the outlet
temperature is 293°C at an outlet header pressure of 8.53 MN/m2.

9.2 Fuel Thermal Power:

The nominal maximum time averaged output per fuel bundle is

estimated to be 420 kW for 756 MWth heat flow to the coolant from
reactor. The average thermal energy output per bundle in an
equilibrium core is estimated to be about 6600 MWd/TeU. Fuel
bundle must be able to produce the power required to generate the
 rated power output of the reactor. At the same time bundle must be
able to withstand the power variation possible in the reactor. Both of
the above requirements are quantified in terms of bundle power Vs
burnup curve, which are also called fuel bundle power envelope or
duty envelopes.

9.3 Fuel Bundle Power Envelope:

During the life of a fuel bundle in the reactor core, its material
constituents as well as interacting neutron flux values changes due
to:

• Change in fuel composition (depletion of U-235) and

generation of fissile plutonium and fission product with
burnup
• Its initial location in the reactor
• Change in location after refueling
• Movement of reactivity devices
• Refueling in neighboring channels

This change in neutron flux causes the bundle power to change. At

any instant the bundle power is called as instantaneous bundle
power. The bundle power vs. burnup enveloping operating conditions
have been evolved from operating histories of large number of high
power fuel bundles.

9.4 Linear Heat Rating (LHR) and Jkdt (Integral kdt):

The LHR is defined as linear power of fuel element per unit length
w/cm. and is related to bundle power. The LHR of a fuel element = 4
n Jkdt where k is thermal conductivity of UO2.

9.5 Fuel Burnup and residence time:

The average residence time for a fuel bundle in a reactor coolant

tube is about 430 FPDs for 100% capacity factor and a burnup of
571 GJ/kg U (6612 MWd/TeU). Average residence time is about 2
years for 70% capacity factor. However, 1460 days i.e. 4 years have
been used for design purpose. The average number of new bundles
loaded is approximately 6.7 per day based on 70 percent capacity
factor or 9.6 per day at 100 percent capacity factor (for 800 MWth
fission power).

Maximum fuel bundle residence time in reactor is decided from the

neutronic considerations. Corrosion, hydriding, erosion and fretting
damage to the fuel cladding for the maximum fuel bundle residence
time inside the reactor has been checked.

9.6 In-service Surveillance:

The fuel bundles are manufactured as per stringent manufacture

 and quality control specifications. The reactor operation and the fuel
refuelling are performed in such a way that the fuel bundles operate
within the bundle power envelope Nevertheless, even after good
design, should any undetected fault exist, the defective fuel in the
reactor can be detected by Delayed Neutron (DN) monitoring system
and will be discharged from the core at the earliest. This will reduce
the activity buildup in the primary coolant system.

9.7 Fuel Failure during Normal Operations:

The total fuel inventory in the core is thousands fuel bundles

consisting of approximately million fuel elements. Each fuel element
is comprised of UO2 pellets sealed in a zircaloy sheath. Each fuel
element is manufactured to high standards and is thoroughly
inspected for flaws or leaks. The sheath will experience corrosion,
intense radiation, forces from adjacent bundles and from the fuelling
machines and distortion from thermal expansion of the UO2 during
its 2 to 3 years residence time in the reactor. The fuel design, fuelling
machine and reactor operating procedures ensure capability of fuel
to withstand these operating conditions and loads without any
failure.

Major fuel failures during normal operations are not expected.

However, failure if any, is likely to start as small defect. Sheath
failures take various forms such as pin holes and cracks, but
generally with very small areas of exposed fuel. It is also known that
some defects grow with time at power. Therefore, some amount of
UO2 is expected to escape from these defects, which will be either
trapped in crevices in the heat transport system or removed by
filtration and ion-exchange in the purification system. The fission
products from such trapped UO2 will increase the background
activity in the coolant. With the help of Delayed Neutron Monitoring
(DNM) system, channel with failed fuel element can be detected.
Further, the on-power refueling facility enables the removal of failed
fuel, as soon as it is detected. Failed fuel will be removed on locating
the failures in order to minimize the back-ground activity and also to
determine the cause of failures.

A gross failure of a single sheath could release a major part of the

'free' fission products inventory (i.e. fission products which are not
retained in the fuel grains). The Iodine-131 activity in the PHT
coolant is monitored once every shift on a routine basis.
Concentration of Iodine-131 in PHT coolant under normal steady
operation of the reactor is maintained significantly low compared to
the permissible level.

A delayed neutron monitoring system has been provided in order to

identify the channel containing the failed fuel which is readily
removed. The DN monitoring system employs detection of short lived,
delayed neutron emitting fission products in samples of the coolant
drawn from all fuel channels. This system consists of a number of
BF3 detectors and each detector is connected by selective number of
 channels.

The operating experience in India and that reported internationally

indicates that fuel bundles in a PHWR reactor may fail during
reactor operation due to one or combination of the following
reasons:-

• Damage due to debris in the coolant.

• Power ramp.
• Overstraining of clad due to high bundle power.
• Manufacturing defect.
Due care is therefore taken in design, manufacturing commissioning
of the reactor and operation to reduce fuel failure to negligible levels.
For example end scooping of end cap and graphite coating on inside
surface of the clad has been introduced. Graphite coating will reduce
power ramp failure and end scooping of end cap reduce the fission
gas pressure inside the elements.

10.0 FUEL HANDLING AT STATIONS

The explanation in this chapter covers mainly the 220 MWe PHWR
fuel.

10.1 Fresh Fuel Handling:

Fuel bundles are packed and shipped to the reactor site by rail or
road as per the packaging and shipping requirements. Fresh fuel
bundles, as and when required are loaded manually with hand
gloves in new fuel magazine which transfers the bundles into the
input conveyor of the fuel transfer system. Normally, 8 fuel bundle
fuel loading scheme is followed for refueling the reactor.

The fuel transfer system serves to transport the fresh fuel from the
new fuel magazine to either of the fuelling machines and accept
spent fuel from either fuelling machine and transport it to the spent
fuel storage bay.

Fresh fuel bundles are loaded in to the reactor and spent fuel
bundles are discharged from reactor with the help of two fuelling
machines which operates in a heavy water environment. A fuelling
machine is attached to each end of a fuel channel during a loading
operation. The two machines work in conjunction with each other,
one loading two new fuel bundles at up-stream end of the fuel
channel, as the other receives two spent bundles at the down-stream
end of the channel.

10.2 Spent Fuel Handling:

The bundle will be removed from the channel after attaining the
desired discharged burnup. Spent fuel is removed from the reactor
by the fuelling machine and is transported by the fuel transfer
 mechanism through an underground tube to the spent fuel storage
bay located in the service building where they are stored underwater.
The storage bay includes an inspection bay for inspection of fuel,
leak testing and canning of failed fuel. From storage bay, the spent
fuel could be shipped to the reprocessing plant.

11.0 FAST REACTOR & RESEARCH REACTOR FUELS

A fast neutron reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of

nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by
fast neutrons. Such a reactor needs no neutron moderator, but must
use fuel that is relatively rich in fissile material when compared to
that required for a thermal reactor.

Research reactors are simpler than power reactors and operate at

lower temperatures. They need far less fuel, and far less fission
products build up as the fuel is used. On the other hand, their fuel
requires more highly enriched uranium, typically up to 20% U-235,
although some use 93% U-235; while 20% enrichment is not
generally considered usable in nuclear weapons, 93% is commonly
referred to as "weapons grade". They also have a very high power
density in the core, which requires special design features. Like
power reactors, the core needs cooling, typically natural or forced
convection with water, and a moderator is required to slow down the
neutrons and enhance fission. As neutron production is their main
function, most research reactors benefit from reflectors to reduce
neutron loss from the core.

12.0 FUEL FABRICATION

The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad, manufactures natural

uranium oxide and enriched uranium oxide fuel assemblies for
pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) and boiling water reactors
(BWR) respectively.

12.1 PHWR Fuel:

The PHWR fuel consists of a stack of cylindrical high density natural

UO2 fuel pellets, with dish and chamfer on the top and bottom
surfaces, encapsulated in thin walled zircaloy-4 cladding tubes, with
graphite coating on the inner surface, and assembled in the form of
19-element and 37-element fuel bundles for PHWR-220 and PHWR-
540 respectively. The magnesium di-uranate (MDU) supplied by
UCIL and uranium oxide scrap are processed through a series of
chemical operations, including dissolution in nitric acid, purification
by solvent extraction using tributyl phosphate (TBP) and
precipitation of pure ammonium diuranate (ADU) by addition of
ammonium hydroxide to pure uranyl nitrate solution. The ADU is
subjected to air-calcination followed by hydrogen-reduction and
stabilization treatments to obtain sinterable grade UO2 powder. The
powder lots of natural UO2 are granulated, admixed with a lubricant
and subjected to cold-Pelletization followed byhigh temperature
 sintering in pusher-type continuous sintering furnaces in cracked
ammonia atmosphere.

NFC fabricates the Zircaloy-2 and zircaloy-4 cladding tubes and

components for fuel elements and fuel assemblies for BWRs and
PHWRs respectively. The high density sintered UO2 pellets thus
obtained are centreless ground to the specified diameter, washed,
dried and loaded in graphite coated zircaloy-4 cladding tubes.
Resistance welding is being followed for encapsulation of UO2 pellet
stack, welding bearing and spacer pad appendages on the fuel
elements and projection welding of fuel elements with the end plates
on both sides of the fuel bundles. In recent years, the bearing and
spacer pad appendages are first resistance welded on to the zircaloy-
4 cladding tube followed by graphite coating on the inner surface of
the cladding tube, loading of UO2 fuel pellets and encapsulation.
The innovative nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques, like 100%
ultrasonic testing of end-plug welds and helium leak testing of
finished fuel bundles, and improved quality control plans introduced
in recent years have significantly enhanced the quality of NFC fuels
and in turn their in-core performance.

12.2 BWR Fuel:

NFC has been manufacturing zircaloy-2 clad low enriched uranium

(LEU: U235<3%) oxide fuel assemblies in 6x6 square configuration
since the last 3 decades for the two BWR 160 MWe units at Tarapur
Atomic Power Station (TAPS-1&2). The 36 fuel element in each fuel
assembly contains UO2 pellets of the following enrichments:

22 fuel elements contain 2.66% U235 of which 2 elements contain

UO2-1.5%Gd2O3 pellets; the gadolinium is used as burnable poison.

11 elements contain 2.1% U235 and 3 elements contain 1.6% U235.

LEU of the above three enrichments were imported in the form of

UF6. The UF6 starting material is hydrolyzed and precipitated with
ammonium hydroxide to obtain ADU. The ADU is subjected to
controlled calcination, reduction and stabilization to get sinterable
UO2 powder, which is consolidated into high-density fuel pellets by
the classical 'cold-Pelletization and sintering' route and encapsulated
in zircaloy-2 cladding tube by TIG welding of the end-caps. All the
end-plug welds are subjected to X-ray radiography for ensuring their
quality and gamma scanning of fuel elements are carried out for
checking the U235 enrichment. 36 such fuel elements are assembled
in 6x6 square configurations to form a BWR fuel assembly.

13.0 FUEL REPROCESSING

The Purex process is based on the following experimental facts.

Uranium and plutonium can exist in a number of valence (oxidation)
states. Because of differences in their oxidation and reduction
potentials, it is possible to oxidize or reduce one of these elements
without disturbing the other. Furthermore, compounds of uranium
and plutonium in different states have different solubilities in
organic solvents. For instance, in the 4+ and 6+ states, the nitrates
of both uranium and plutonium are soluble in certain solvents, while
in the 3+ state their compounds are virtually insoluble in the same
solvents. Therefore, solvent extraction involves three critical steps:
(a) separating the uranium and plutonium from the fission products
by absorbing the first two in the appropriate solvent, leaving the
latter in solution; (b) reducing the oxidation state of the plutonium to
3+ so that it is no longer soluble in the solvent; and (c) back
extracting the plutonium into aqueous solution. A simplified flow
diagram for a Purex reprocessing plant is shown in Annexure.

The fuel rods are first cut into short 1engths-3 to 5 cm long. This
occurs in the so-called mechanical head-end of the plant. The
chopped pieces are next heated to remove radioactive gases, mostly
tritium and the fission product gas 85Kr, trapped within the fuel.
These gases are collected and stored. The batch of fuel is then
dissolved in a concentrated solution of nitric acid (HNO3). This
aqueous solution of uranium and plutonium, both of which at this
point are in high states of oxidation, together with the fission
products and dissolved remnants of the fuel assemblies, next passes
through a filter to remove undissolved components of the assemblies
and enters at the middle of the first extraction column. In this
column, the organic solvent tributylphosphate (TBP), diluted in the
kerosene like substance dodecane, flows up the column extracting
uranium and plutonium from the aqueous solution. At the same
time, more nitric acid enters from the top of the column to scrub the
rising solvent of any fission products that it may have picked up. The
organic solution that leaves the top of the column contains
essentially all the uranium and plutonium and only a trace of fission
products, whereas the aqueous solution exiting at the bottom holds
most of the fission products and very little uranium or plutonium.
The organic solution passes next into a second column, where it
counter flows against a dilute solution of a chemical-reducing agent
(a ferrous compound is often used), which reduces the plutonium to
the 3+ state, but leaves the uranium in the 6+ state. Since the
plutonium is no longer soluble in the TBP, it passes into the aqueous
solution before leaving the column. The uranium is stripped from the
organic solvent in a third column, where it passes into a counter
flowing stream of dilute nitric acid. The solvent leaving the top of the
column, from which most of the plutonium, uranium, and fission
products have now been removed, is piped to a recovery plant for
purification and reuse. The uranium exits the column in aqueous
solution. To further purify the uranium and plutonium fractions,
their respective solutions can be processed through additional
extraction columns. However, the plutonium is often purified and
concentrated by ion exchange. This process involves passing the
plutonium solution into an ion exchange resin and then eluting the
plutonium with dilute acid. The concentration of the purified
plutonium can then be increased by partially evaporating the
solution, taking Care not to approach criticality. This is the usual
form of the plutonium output from a fuel reprocessing plant-a highly
purified solution of plutonium nitrate. It is an easy matter to
 transform the plutonium to the oxide PuO2.

14.0 WASTE MANAGEMENT

Radioactive wastes in several different forms are produced at various

points in the fuel cycle of a nuclear power plant: during the mining
of uranium, the manufacture of the fuel, the operation of the reactor,
and the processing and recycling of the fuel (if this is part of the
cycle). Wastes are also produced when the plant is ultimately
decommissioned and dismantled. The nuclear power industry is not
the sole purveyor of radioactive wastes, however. Hospitals have
become a major source of such wastes due to the widespread use of
radiopharmaceuticals in medicine. Radioactive wastes are also a
significant by-product of nuclear weapons programs. It is usual to
classify waste in four categories. High-level waste consists of spent
fuel, if this is discarded as waste, and any wastes generated in the
first stages of a fuel reprocessing plant (since this waste contains the
bulk of the fission products). Transuranic (TRU) waste consists
mostly of the isotopes of plutonium at concentrations in excess of 10-
9 Ci/g; TRU wastes are generated by fuel reprocessing, plutonium
fuel fabrication, and manufacturing of nuclear weapons. Low-level
waste contains less than 10-9 Ci/g of TRU nuclides. It also includes
material that is free of TRU and requires little or no shielding, but it
is still potentially dangerous. Mine and mill tailings consist of
residues from uranium mining and milling operations; such residues
contain low concentrations of naturally occurring radio nuclides. A
perusal of the chart of nuclides reveals that the vast majority of the
several hundred fission products are very short-lived. Only five have
half-lives between 1 and 5 years; two-namely, 90Sr and 137Cs-have
half-lives of about 30 years, and three- 93Zr, 129I, and 135Cs-have
half-lives in excess of a million years, and hence are effectively
stable. In 100 years, the activity of 5-year nuclide decreases by a
factor of 106, and the shorter lived nuclides disappear altogether.
Over the long-term, therefore, the fission product activity of high-
level waste is due only to 90Sr and 137Cs. The latter radionuclide
decays into stable 137 B a. However, 90Sr decays to 90Y, which decays
with a 64-hr half-life to stable 90Zr. Thus, high-level waste ultimately
contains three fission products, 90Sr, 90Y and 137Cs. The half-lives of
many of the TRU nuclides tend to be considerably longer. For
instance, the half-life T1/2 of 239Pu is 24,000 years. Therefore, the
activity of these nuclides dies off more slowly than that of the fission
products. In the spent fuel from a typical LWR, the TRU activity
exceeds the fission product activity after approximately 700 years.
The total high-level activity from spent fuel, including both the
fission products and the TRU nuclides, depends on the nature of the
reactor fuel cycle. With the once-through cycle, the activity of the
fuel persists for hundreds of thousands of years owing to the
presence of TRU material. However, with a closed cycle, the
plutonium isotopes are returned to the reactor where, on fissioning,
they are transformed into short-lived fission products. This situation
is illustrated in Fig. 4.56, where the activity of high-level waste
generated in 1 GWe year is shown for the LWR with and without
recycling; for the LMFBR (with recycling, of course) and for a special
case in which LWR spent fuel is reprocessed, the fission products are
treated as waste and the plutonium is merely stored. Except in the
early and late years, the activity in this last cycle is due almost
entirely to 90Sr, 90Y, and 137 Cs. Also shown in the figure is the range
of activities of the uranium ore required to produce the original fuel.
It is observed that the high-level activity associated with the fuel
cycles approaches with in an order of magnitude of the ore in about
1,000 years.
Desirable Books:

a. Introduction to Nuclear Engineering (3rd Edition) by John R. Lamarsh.

& Anthony J. Baratta.
c. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: From Ore to Waste (Oxford Science
Publications) by P.D. Wilson.
d. Nuclear Fuel Elements: Design, Fabrication, Performance by Brian R.
T. Frost.
e. Nuclear Reactor Engineering by Glasstone and Sesonske

THE END