Solid Radioactive Waste Strategy Report.pdf - UK EPR

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EPR UK N° NESH-G/2008/en/0123 REV. A PAGE 120 / 257 9 SPENT FUEL 9.1 EPR Spent fuel Characteristics 9.1.1 Summary Description of the Core and Fuel Assemblies The EPR reactor core contains the nuclear fuel in which the fission reaction occurs. The remainder of the active core structure serves either to support the fuel, control the chain reaction or to channel the coolant. The reactor core consists of fuel rods held in bundles by spacer grids and top and bottom fittings. The fuel rods consist of uranium oxide pellets stacked in a cladding tube, plugged and seal-welded to encapsulate the fuel (see Figure 34). The fuel rods are arranged in fuel assemblies (see Figure 35 and Table 38) which are formed by a 17 x 17 array of 265 fuel rods and 24 guide thimbles. The 24 guide thimbles are joined to the grids and to the top and bottom nozzles. The guide thimbles may also hold rod cluster control assemblies, neutron source rods or the in-core instrumentation. Guide thimbles that do not contain one of these components are fitted with plugs to limit the bypass flow. The grid assemblies consist of an arrangement of interlocked straps. The straps contain spring fingers and dimples for fuel rod support, as well as coolant mixing vanes. The reactor core consists of 241 assemblies. The fuel assemblies are made from a variety of fuel formulations. These include different enrichments of uranium and some fuel assemblies also contain a neutron poison, gadolinium oxide (Gd 2 O 3 ). The gadolinium oxide is mixed with the fuel and depletes slowly with burn up which helps to control the fission process. For core refuelling, the number and the characteristics of the fresh assemblies depend on reactor operating parameters and the fuel management strategies e.g. cycle length, type of loading, fuel management regime, fuel type, etc. Typically, around one third of the fuel assemblies are replaced at each refuelling.
EPR UK N° NESH-G/2008/en/0123 REV. A PAGE 121 / 257 Assemblies Arrangement of fuel rods TABLE 38: FUEL ASSEMBLY DATA 17 by 17 square array External maximum section (mm x mm) 214 x 214 Maximum length (mm) 4859 Active length (mm) (Average, at 20 °C) 4200 Overall weight (kg) 780 Uranium mass (kg) 527.5 Rods Number of fuel rods 265 Fuel rod outer diameter (mm) 9.5 Cladding thickness (mm) 0.57 Rod pitch (mm) 12.6 Cladding Material M5
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A 2008-11-26 Sarah Greenwood Gary C
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