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A Review of Stored Energy Release of Irradiated Graphite

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A Review of Stored Energy Release of Irradiated Graphite Nidia C. Gallego P.O. Box 2008 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6087 Telephone (865) 241-9459 FAX: (865) 576-8424 e-mail: [email protected] September 29, 2011 Makuteswara Srinivasan U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission RES/DE/CMB M.S. T-10 M10 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Dear Srini: Milestone Report ORNL/TM-2011/378 in completion of Task 1 for JCN N6988 / V6210 Attached is the subject ORNL/TM Report entitled: “A Review of Stored Energy Release of Irradiated Graphite” documenting work under Task 1 for project JCN N6988 / V6210, “HTGR Graphite Stored Energy Release,” If you have any questions regarding the report or need additional information, please contact me. Sincerely, Nidia Gallego Carbon Materials Technology Group Materials Science and Technology Division Enclosure c/enc: L. D. Aloisi T. D. Burchell M. Gavrilas J. J. Simpson [email protected] [email protected] File-RC ORNL/TM-2011/378 A Review of Stored Energy Release of Irradiated Graphite September 2011 Prepared by N. C. Gallego T. D. Burchell DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Reports produced after January 1, 1996, are generally available free via the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Information Bridge. Web site http://www.osti.gov/bridge Reports produced before January 1, 1996, may be purchased by members of the public from the following source. National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Telephone 703-605-6000 (1-800-553-6847) TDD 703-487-4639 Fax 703-605-6900 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.ntis.gov/support/ordernowabout.htm Reports are available to DOE employees, DOE contractors, Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE) representatives, and International Nuclear Information System (INIS) representatives from the following source. Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Telephone 865-576-8401 Fax 865-576-5728 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.osti.gov/contact.html This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. ORNL/TM-2011/378 Materials Science and Technology Division A Review of Stored Energy Release of Irradiated Graphite N. C. Gallego T. D. Burchell Manuscript Completed: April 2011 Date Published: September 2011 Prepared for Division of Engineering Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Washington, DC 20555 NRC Job Code V6210 Prepared by OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6283 managed by UT-BATTELLE, LLC for the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 This page is intentionally left blank. ii Contents Figures .......................................................................................................................................................... v Tables .......................................................................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ xi Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... xiii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 2 Graphite and Its Role in HTGRs ............................................................................................................ 3 3 Irradiation-Induced Damage in Graphite ................................................................................................ 6 3.1 Effect of neutron irradiation on graphite properties ..................................................................... 6 3.1.1 Effects of irradiation on dimensional changes ................................................................. 6 3.1.2 Effects of irradiation on mechanical properties ............................................................... 9 3.1.3 Effects of irradiation on thermal conductivity ............................................................... 10 3.1.4 Effects of irradiation on thermal expansion ................................................................... 11 3.1.5 Effects of irradiation on specific heat ............................................................................ 12 3.1.6 Effects of irradiation on electrical resistivity ................................................................. 12 3.2 Theory of displacement damage due to neutron irradiation ....................................................... 12 4 Wigner Energy ..................................................................................................................................... 17 4.1 Total stored energy of irradiated graphite .................................................................................. 17 4.2 Rate of release of stored energy of irradiated graphite ............................................................... 19 4.3 Interpretation of stored energy data ............................................................................................ 22 4.3.1 Effects of irradiation dose at low irradiation temperatures ............................................ 22 4.3.2 Effects of irradiation temperature .................................................................................. 25 4.3.3 Effects of the degree of graphitization ........................................................................... 31 4.3.4 Release curves at high annealing temperatures ............................................................. 33 5 Implications of the Wigner Energy Content ......................................................................................... 43 6 Stored Energy and HTGR .................................................................................................................... 45 7 Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 48 Appendix A. Conversion Factors for Irradiation Dose ............................................................................... 49 References ................................................................................................................................................... 50 iii This page is intentionally left blank. iv Figures 1. SC-MHR reactor system cutaway showing graphite core components ................................................ 4 2. Schematic of lattice defects introduced by radiation in graphite .......................................................... 7 3. Neutron irradiation-induced a-axis shrinkage behavior of pyrolytic graphite showing the effects of graphitization temperature on the magnitude of the dimensional changes ........................... 8 4. Irradiation-induced volume changes for H-451 graphite at two irradiation temperatures .................... 9 5. Dimensional change behavior of H-451 graphite at an irradiation temperature of 600 °C and 900 °C ............................................................................................................................................. 9 6. Neutron irradiation-induced Young’s modulus changes for GraphNOL N3M at irradiation temperatures 600 and 875 °C .............................................................................................................. 10 7. Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity in the irradiated and unirradiated condition for typical nuclear grade graphite ....................................................................................................... 11 8. The irradiation-induced changes in CTE (25–500 °C) for GraphNOL N3M graphite at two irradiation temperatures ...................................................................................................................... 12 9. Sequential HRTEM images illustrating the formation rates of interlayer defects at different temperatures with the same time scale (0 to 220 seconds) .................................................................. 14 10. Normalized formation rate of the clusters of I-V pair defects per unit area of bilayer estimated in HRTEM images recorded at different temperatures ....................................................................... 15 11. Accumulation of total stored energy as a function of dose in graphite at various irradiation temperatures .......................................................................................................................................
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