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ORNL-TM-2743.txt
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ORNL-TM-2743.txt
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RECEIVED BY DTIE MAR 6 1970 ‘ '
y 1 )
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
operated by
UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION m
NUCLEAR DIVISION
for the
U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
ORNL- TM- 2743
L]
THIS DOCUMENT CONFIRME
UNCLASSIFIED 0 AS COPYHE. -
ngfim’ CLASSIFICATION DATE — December 22, 1969
il Z
DAIRL Yl 2D .
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
of
CORE TRRADIATION-SPECIMEN ARRAY FOR MSRE RUNS 19 and 20
- MASTER
v Abstract
A new MSRE core specimen array was designed and fabricated to
replace the type of metallurgical surveillance specimen array that
was used in the MSRE through Run 18. The main purpose of the new
array is to measure the capture-to-absorption ratio of 2337 and to
determine the effects of salt velocity, turbulence, and surface
finish on the deposition of fission products on graphite and on
Hastelloy-N. Two additional test specimens were included, one of
pyrolytie graphite to determine if there is permeation of fuel salt
or its constituents into the graphite and one of Hastelloy-N to ex-
pose a serles of electron microscope screens in a trapped gas pocket.
.. The new specimen array was installed on July 31, 1969 and was ex-
posed in the reactor core for 12,9’+3 Mwhrs of reactor operation during
Runs 19 and 20.
Keywords: MSRE, core-irradiation-specimens, design, fabrication,
uranium-233, capture-to-absorption ratio, cross sections,
. fission products, adsorption, nickel-molybdemum-chromium
' alloy, graphite,
o
w NOTICE This document contains information of a preliminary nature
and was prepared primarily for internal use at the Oak Ridge National SOy
Laboratory. It is subject to revision or correction and therefore does P,l%{_; -
not represent a final report. -
DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT 1S UNLIMITED
LEGAL NOTICE
This report wos prepored os an eccount of Government sponsoroa work, Neither the United VSf-utas,r
nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission:
A. Makes ony warronty er representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy,-
completeness, or usefulness of the informotion contained in this report, or that the use of 7
ony informotion, epparatus, mthod or process disclosed in flus report may not in!rmge
privately owned rights; or
B. Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of -
any information, opparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report. .
As used in the above, "‘person acting on beoholf of the Commission®® includes any employee or
contractor of the Commission, or employes of such contractor, to the extent that such smployee
or contractor of the Commission, or employes of such contractor prepares, disseminotes, or
provides access to, any information pursuant 1o his cmpioymen! or contract with the Commission,
or his employment with such contractor.
. |’
s
o
CONTENTS
Introduetion « o 4 o o 4 6 0 b e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
. Mechanical Design of the Cage and Basket Assembly. . o . ¢« o o o &
Description and Design of Test Specimens . . . . . . . « . . . . .
FlowTube & , & ¢ 4 o ¢ ¢ o o o o o o o o o s o o o o s o o s
Uranjum Capsules. . + ¢ « o o « « . ; . ; e e ¢+ o s o s s« & 10
Pyrolytic Graphite, . . & o ¢ ¢ v ¢ ¢ ¢ o o ¢ o o o o o« o« o « 14
Graphite Tube with Turbulence Wire... . » ¢ « ¢ o« « ¢ o o o . 1b
Hastelloy-N Tube with Turbulence Wire . . . « o v o o » » » . 18
Gas Trap and Electron Microscope Screen Holder. . . . . . . . 18
DispoSition of the Specimen Array . . 4 v« ¢« ¢ ¢« ¢ ¢ o « o =« » 21
Acknowledgements ., . . . . . 4 . v 0 4 4 s 4 b s s e e e e e ... 22
LEGAL NOTICE
- -] “This repnrt whRs wepu-ecl as an account of Government -pomred work. uen.her the Uafted
“§ "Biates, »or the Commission, nor any person acting on bebalf of the Commisaion:
© - A. Makes sny warrenly or representation, sxpressed or imptied, with respect io {he accu-
racy, completenees, or usefulness of the information contalned in this report, or that the use
‘o any tnformation, apparatus, ietbod, or process dtlcloud in thia report may mot lnfringe
prinuly owned rights; or .
. . B Assumes any liabilities with rupact to the use ot or for dzmages regulting from the
-} nse of sy iniormation, appnnml method, or process disclosed in this report.
- An unsed in the sbove, "‘person scting on behnlf of the Commisasion’ includes any em-
| ‘ployee or contractor of the ¢ ar empl of such , to the -mm that
such employse or contracior of the C or employee of such ¢ .
.1 7] disseminates, or provides access to, sny information purseant to his cupioymml er contract
o r 'ma the Gommlnuiou or his nuploymanl with lm:h mtructor
*
')
DISTfiIBUTION_OF THIS DOCUMENT IS UNLIMITED
"
»
o«
p. 87.
Introduction
During nuclear operation of the MSRE through May 1969, the graphite
sampler assembly contained. ‘semples of graphite and Hsstelloy -N which were
used to determine the effects of the reactor enviromment on these materials,
including corrosionvand_theVeffectsfof irradiation on the physical proper-
ties and to determine the deposition of fission products on the materials,?!
Assemblies of this type were removed.in July 1966, May 1967, April 1968,
and June 1969, After the latter removal, the same type of array was not
reinstalled because the relatively short exposure'that‘would occur before
the planned'final shutdown'of the MShE would add little to the information
obtained during the previous long exposures., lnstead a different sample
'assembly was designed to utilize the existing space in the core. This new
assembly is ‘described in this report
The new assembly contained several experiments for fission product
: deposition studies and four graphite capsules containing uranium isotopes
for measuring nuclear properties of 233, Two of the uranium capsules
:contained about l-gr total of 3% and 2%y and the other two contained
about 1l-gr total of 23%U and 22y, The other specimens of graphite_and
Hastelloy-N were.designed'to study the effects of flow, surface finish,
and turbulence on the fission product deposition. A specimen of pyrolytic
graphitegwasvincluded forsaltipermeation studies and the final specimen
formed a gas trap. where electron microscope screens were exposed to detect
- the presence of colloidel materials. The design details of the individual
specimens and of the assembly are shown on ORNL Drawings M?lOSSl-RB—OOl
M-10551 RB-002, and M-10551-RB-003 (Footnote 2). |
The new specimen array was installed ‘into the MSRE core on July 31
: 1969 and was exposed during.Runs 19 and 20. Teble I summarizes the ex-
> posure histbry of the,arrayo,;Thedspecimen,array vas scheduled for removal
~sbout December 15, 1969.
| ;MSR Program Semiannual Progress Report, August 31, 1965, ORNL-3872,
EThese drawings are available 1n Reactor Division Design Department
or Laboratory Records.
Table 1
Exposure History of the MSRE Core
- Irradiation-Specimen Array for Runs 19 and 20
Time above 900°F a - 2,815 hrs
Time exposed to flush salt | 120 hrs -
Time exposed to fuel sall | 2,262 hrs
Integrated Power - - . - 12,943 Mwhrs
Mechanical Design of the Cage and Basket Assembly
In order to keep the assembly as simple as possible, each capsule or
specimen was made cylindrical with an outside diameter of l—l/h inches,
This was the largest diemeter that could be held in & removable eage in-
side the existing basket design. The individual experiments within the
assembly are more completely deeeribed later in the report.
Figure 1 shows the completed cage and basket assemblies., The new
basket assembly is generally the same size and shape as the previous ones,
but is made from 2-in, OD by 0,062-in., wall Hastelloy-N tUbing (control
rod thimble material) because the perforated sheet used previously was not
available, The large slots in the lower part of the basket assembly were
to reduce the metal volume and the neutron flux depression to.a minimum in
the vicinity of the uranium-containing capsules. The smaller slots at
the top of the basket are to ensure an adequate salt flow through the
upper portion of the basket |
| The cage assembly consists of three vertical 3/16 in.-diameter rods
held by end fittings and with spacer rings welded at intervals along the
length, The 1ower-end fitting was welded to the vertical rods and forms
. & flow passage which directs about half of the salt flow from the 1nlet
tfibe of the basket into the center of the first test specimen. The top
Ll y : . ey
¥
8
end fitting, which was removabie_to facilitate loading and unloading the
test specimens, slips over the three rods and was held in place by
1/16-1n.-dia. wire clips. |
The bottom test specimen was pinned to the lower end fitfing to re-
sist any pressure drop effects. The other specimens were loose in the
cage and were free to expand and cofitract aérnecessary. Thé total length
of test specimens was adjusted during assembly by machining the length of
the top metal filler plug to provide end clearance with the cage assembly.
At operating temperature the end clearance increased to about 0.42 in,
due to differential fhermal ekpansibn. The graphite speciméhs, which
would normally float in salt, were held down by the weight of the top -
metal specimens and the filler plug.
The assembly procedure of the cage into the basket and the installa-
tion of the basket into the reactor vessel were the same as for the previous -
graphite sampler assemblies, The assembly of the cage and basket was sim-
plified by the use of all new parts. However, a previously used "Ball-Lock
assembly" was used to complete the basket assembly, and the radietion level
of this part required the final pinning operation to be completed in a hot
cell, | '
The radiation from the ball-lock assembly was sufficiently low that
the completed assembly couid be carried from the Hot Cell to the MSRE in |
a pipe carrier with relafiively light shielding on one end. An argon at-
- mosphere was maintained 6n the uvranium capsules and on the completed
assembly as much of the time as possible., The total exposure of thé
uranium capsules to atmosphere was about one hour or less,
A : Description and Design of Test Specimens
Flow Tube
- The first test specimen at the bottom of the assembly is the flow |
tube. Figure 2 is a photograph of the parts and the completed assembly of
this specimen, The metal core inside the graphite body formed a l/l6-in.
thick flow anmulus so a direct comparison between the deposition on
Hastelloy-N and on graphite will berpossible. The salt flow through the
ol
¥
Flow Tube Assembly
2
Fig.
10
annulus was introduced through the lower end fitting of the cage assembly
and wés driven by the pressure drop across the graphite lattice-bar grid
at the bottom of the reactor vessel. The salt velocity through the
1/16-in. annulus was estimated to be 2.5 ft/sec as compared to 0.8 ft/sec
on the outside of the specimen, The effect of salt velocity on deposition
can be obtained by comparing inside and outside surfaces of the graphite.
Different surface finishes'wefe“used on both the internal énd the ekternal
surfapes so that the effeét'of'surface,finish can be determined. The
external surfaces will also be used as a reference for the graphite speci-
- men with the turbulence wire. The graphite parts were made:of POCO.grade
AXF-5Q. This grade of graphite was selected because of its uniform pore
size, Grade CGB graphite, such as constitutes the MSRE core, was not used
for this specimen because the pieces of this graphite still in stock all
had numerous cracks that ‘would cause misleadingly high indications of
apparent surface deposition.
Uranium Capsules
The next section of the sbecimen assembly contains four graphite
capsules that contain mixtures of uranium isotopes in a NaF-ZrF, carrier
salt., The purpose of these capsules is to determine, for the energy spec-'
trum at the capsules, the capture-to-absorption ratio of 23X and to de-
termine the absorption cross sections of the other uranium’isotopés relative
to 23%3, Two sizes of capsules_were provided, the long capsules containing
primarily 233 and 233U‘and the short capsules containing 234y and 239y,
After exposure the salt mixtufés will be analyzed for uranium 233, 23&,
235, 236, and 238 and for ®*°Pu, The production or depletion of £hese
.isotopes will be obtained by comparison with.similar analyses 6f unir-
radiated samples of the salt miXtures. The isotopic'concentfations of
uranium in the original salt mixtures as calculated from the analyses of
the source materials are shown in Taeble II.
The total weighté of salt for the long and short capsules were_h9.h
and 25.0 grams respectively giving a total uranium content of 1 gram per
éapsule; Since the analyses will be done on the basis of isotopic ratios
the exact quantity of salt or uranium is not important, The NaF-ZrF,
»
"
'
C
11
Table IIT
Caléulated;;sotopic Concentrations
- of
Original Salt Mixtures rams
Long Capsule - ~ Short Capsule
U-232 0.4 ppm of U 0.03 ppm of U
233 0.1000 - 0.0081
234 0.00k42 ~ 0.0263
235 0.008L - 0.0566
236 ~ 0.000k 0.0033
238 - 0.8870 0.9056
carrier salt was selected so*that any leakage of MSRE fuel or flush salt
into the capsules could be detected by an analysis for lithium,
The heat geheration rates within The salt miktures were estimated
to be 170 and 100 watts respectively for the long ‘and short capsules.
The total temperature rise in the capsule was estimated at about 300°F,
but most of this is in the salt mixture and in the outside convective film,
The high thermal conductivity limits the temperature gradients within the
graphite so that thermal stresses are not a problem,
‘Each capsule_cofitainsiafsEriesrof flux and temperature monitors lo-
cated on the vertical center line. The flux monitorsiconsisted_of'302
"stainless -steel wire and a silver-copper alloy. These'monitors will give
~en indication of both the thermal and fast fluxes, The temperature moni-
tors are small rods of 8ic 1/2 in, long which sustain a dimensional change
under irradiation. The irradiation temperature is the temperature at
which this dimensional change can be annealed out,
The design details of. the capsules are shown on Drawing‘M-10551~RB-002
'_(Reference 1) and in Figure 3.i The annular salt cavity 3/h~in.-OD by
_l/2—in. ID reduced the’ centerline temperature of the capsule and also
1This drawing is available in Reactor Division, Design Department,
‘or Laboratory Records,
Y-94127
Ry Ty g
Fig, 3.
Uranifim
Capsule
281
Y-94728
g s
T
»
w
“y
..phere.'
13
provided a convenient location for the flux ‘and temperature monitors in
the central graphite core, POCO graphite grade AXF-5QBG Be was selected to
avoid the neutron depression- that would occur with Hastelloy N and to pro-
vide a satisfactorily low salt permeability.‘ The capsules were sealed by
welding the ends of two molybdenum rings that were each vacuum brazed to
the graphite body or cap with a.85Cu-10Ni-5Cr brazing alloy at 1250°C and
1075 torr. A direct braze between the graphite body and cap was not used
because of the high. temperatures that would have been required on the com-
pleted and salt-filled assembly
- The integrity of the brazed joint between the molybdenum rings and
graphite was the most important mechanical problem. The metallographic
examination of the test braze indicated that the braze'was'satiSfactory,
but-the initial production brazes leaked helium when subjected to 10-psig
- pressure. The brazing procedure was revised to include coating the gra-
phite surfaces with Cr3ce to facilitate wetting of the graphite by the.
brazing alloy. Subsequent brazes were satisfactory, but one cap was re-
~ jected because of a large. pore in the graphite.
: Following the brazing operation, the capsules were leak-tested in an
alcohol bath with 10-psig helium, Since the graphite is porous to helium,
the leak test was used-dnly?to screen out any parts with abnormally large
pores or any parts with a poor braze. The capsules were then cleaned in
an untrasonic alcohol bath and vacuum-dried at 300°C. The flux and
temperature monitors, which had been previously cleaned, dried and assembled
into glass tubes, vere installed and the capsules were delivered for salt
£11ling.
The salt mixtures were prepared and loaded into the capsules by the
Chemical Technology Division. The salt was prepared in one melt for each
of the two compositions.~ The salt in each melt was crushed and weighed
into batches for the indiv1dua1 capsules. The crushed salt was loaded
'1i-into the capsules as dry powder and then melted_down under an argon atmos-
After the loading and meltdown of the salt was completed the capsules
were sealed by TIG welding the exposed ends of ‘the molybdenum rings. The
| weldlng was done 1n an argon atmosphere W1thout the use of filler wire,
1k
The welds were inspected visually and by liquid penetrant, The completed
capsules and the excéss éalt;mixtures contained in small glass Jars were
sealed in plastic with an argon atmosphere until ready for use.
"~ The original'plans'were to load the salt mixtures into four capsules
of each type, but one cépsule_of;each type‘was.rejected during fabrication.
Two of each type were assembled into the core specimen array and the third,
-'along with the excess salt, is being held to develop the salt recovery and
analytical’procedures and to prOvide the isotopic concentrations of the un-
irradiated salt. | o
Table IIT shows the monitor data and core location for each capsule.
Pyrolytic Graphite
A rectangular specimen of pyrdlytic'graphite as shown in Figure y
is,immediately above the uranium cgpsules. The test‘specimen is,O.S?in. X
0.687-in, x 6,0-1in. long and is held in the cage assembly by circular
pieces of POCO AXF-5Q graphite pinned to each end, The layer planes of
the graphite are parallel to the 0.687-in. x 6-in. surfaces. The depth of
any penetration of salt or 1tsrconstituénts into the graphite both parallel
and perpendicular to the layer planes, will be determined by proton acti-
vation technique. The specimen will also be analyzed for the penetration
of fission products both parallel and perpendicular to the graphite layer
planes, The weight of the test specimens above the pyrolytic graphite is
transferred from the outer diameter of the top end ring to the central
region by a 1/8-in. thick Hastelloy-N disk. |
Graphite Tube with Turbulence Wire
The next specimen is a graphite tube machined from'POCO AXF-SQ. _The
test section is a 1-in.-diemeter cylinder with three 2-in,-long sections
with different surface finishes (5, 25, and 125 RMS). The bore diemeter
is 1/2-in, with surface finish bands of 5 and 125 RMS. The OD of the test
section has a coil of 1/16-in. Hastelloy-N wire wound on a 1/2-in, pitch
and with a 20-mil radlal clearance between the graphite surface and the
wire.rrThe‘original design called for spacers between the wire and the
"graphité,rbut these were.eliminated because of welding problems with the
thin spacers, The wire céil is to promote turbulenceron the outside sur-
face of the graphite. Figure 5 is a photograph os this test specimen,
-
- » ’ L) 3
Table IIT
Urenium Capsule Location and Monitor Data
~ Location
| Weight (Top to - o
Capsule U-Mixture of Salt. Bottom) Monitor Array (Top to Bottom)
| | §8-302-1 /4"
| (116"
o o ‘ Ag-Cu Spacer = SiC Holder) Sic
s-1 234238 25.0 gn MSRE-3 .Mi36 em 5/32" .U99%0" 9.700 mg .50046"
s-2 234-238 ‘25éOém;?f'M$RE‘l--hth“gm 5/32" ,4g988" 9.382 mg .50024"
S-3 234-238 24,5 gm Storage JLLLE gm - 5/32" .k9992" 9,387 mg .50050"
SS-302-1/4" 5S~-302-3/8"
(1p/16" - B | (11/16"
Holder) Spacer Sic Spacer Ag-Cu Holder) sic
L~2 233-238 Lok MSRE-4 9,505 mg 1-1/16" ,L9998" 1-1/16" Lb38 gm 16,046 mg ,50025"
| ‘ ‘ - (Bottom) | | O
. L~3 233-238" _hg.hf Storsge 9.58L mg 1-1/16" 49992" 1-1/16" .L435gm 15,60k mg .50046"
L-b 233-238 49,4 MSRE-2 9.46l mg 1-1/16" .ho999" 1-1/16" .Lk22 gm 15.321 mg .50019"
Analysis of 302'Stéi-n]..éSS:Ste‘e.l FE T1.30
| SRR Ni 8.51
Cr 0.080k
e
Y-94928 ‘
R
i
Graphite Fission Product Deposition Specimen
Fig. 5.