ASBLT is a computer program consisting of DATATRAN MODULES which was used during the manufacturing phase of LWBR to collect and evaluate as-built data. The program was part of the LWBR fuel rod inspection process and produced sections of module assembly certification reports. ASBLT used fuel pellet, fuel rod and module assembly data to compute core inventories and to supply input to nuclear design programs for as-built core calculations.

Seamless Zircaloy-4 tubing is utilized as fuel rod cladding in light water reactors. Water corrosion tests at 68OF have been performed to determine the corrosion and hydriding characteristics of Zircaloy-4 tubing, fabricated by cold reduction and finished in two metallurgical conditions: a stress-relief anneal (SRA) and a recrystallization anneal (RXA). These corrosion tests revealed differences in the post-transition corrosion product weight gains of the two materials. A computer corrosion model, designated CHORT, was developed from the test data and ascribes the observed difference in material weight gain to an assumed difference in the periodicity of a postulated cyclic buckling of the oxide.

Critical heat flux experiments were conducted for upflow of water in a vertical 84 inch annular flow channel, 0.303 inch heated I.D. and 0.500 inch unheated O.D. Test data were obtained at pressures from 1200 to 2000 psia, mass velocities from 0.25 x 10/sup 6/ to 2.8 x 10/sup 6/ lb/hr-ft/sup 2/ and inlet temperatures ranging from 200 to 600/sup 0/F. Three different test sections were employed with (1) axially uniform heat flux over the 84 inch length to serve as a no-hot-patch data base, (2) axially uniform heat flux over 82 inches with a 1.5 heat flux ratio hot patch over the last two inches, and (3) axially uniform heat flux over 82 inches with a 2.25 heat flux ratio hot patch over the last two inches.

In-reactor densification of ThO/sub 2/ and ThO/sub 2/--UO/sub 2/ fuel of low burnup and low power operation (hence low temperature) was assessed by measuring fuel pellet diameter changes. Pellet diameter changes ranged from nil in a large grain, low temperature thoria pellet (98.9 percent theoretical density) to -1.06 percent in a small grain, moderate temperature ThO/sub 2/-30 w/o UO/sub 2/ pellet (93.8 percent theoretical density). A correlation was established between quantity of small pores (<2.3 ..mu..m diameter) and as-fabricated fuel grain size. An empirical equation, based on densification (pore closure) plus fuel swelling, was formulated for pellet diameter change as a function of initial grain size and fuel burnup.

This report provides a usable reference of methods and procedures for the construction of both one-sided and two-sided ..gamma../P statistical tolerance limits for design application to both linear and nonlinear models in any number of variables.

The technical requirements for the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) fuel elements (fuel rods) imposed certain unique requirements for the low hafnium Zircaloy-4 tubing used as fuel rod cladding. This report describes, in detail, the tube manufacturing process, the product and process controls used, the inspections and tests performed, and the efforts involved in refining a commercial tube reducing process to produce tubes that would satisfy the requirements for LWBR fuel rod cladding.

An experiment has been performed to determine the effect of motion of a thermal shield on the neutron signal expected from ex-core detectors. Using a mockup of the LWBR reactor vessel, thermal shield, and core barrel in conjunction with a /sup 252/Cf neutron source, the change in detector signal with displacement of the various components was investigated. It was found that moving the thermal shield would produce a significant change in detector signal, although the effect was smaller than would be produced by moving the source and core barrel together. The results were substantiated by two-dimensional discrete-ordinate calculations.

Destructive examination of 12 representative Light Water Breeder Reactor fuel rods was performed following successful operation in the Shippingport Atomic Power Station for 29,047 effective full power hours, about five years. Light Water Breeder Reactor fuel rods were unique in that the thorium oxide and uranium-233 oxide fuel was contained within Zircaloy-4 cladding. Destructive examinations included analysis of released fission gas; chemical analysis of the fuel to determine depletion, iodine, and cesium levels; chemical analysis of the cladding to determine hydrogen, iodine, and cesium levels; metallographic examination of the cladding, fuel, and other rod components to determine microstructural features and cladding corrosion features; and tensile testing of the irradiated cladding to determine mechanical strength. The examinations confirmed that Light Water Breeder Reactor fuel rod performance was excellent. No evidence of fuel rod failure was observed, and the fuel operating temperature was low (below 2580/sup 0/F at which an increased percentage of fission gas is released). 21 refs., 80 figs., 20 tabs.

The DECAG (Deformation of Cladding into Axial Gaps) ex-reactor test program evaluated deformation of Zircaloy-4 cladding into axial gaps in tubular fuel elements. These axial gaps are the result of cladding elongation and fuel stack shrinkage. The test program consisted of twelve series and subseries of both fully recrystallized and stress-relieved highly cold worked tubing tested under pressure-temperature combinations in autoclaves. The test program also verified the validity of achieving test acceleration through the use of elevated temperatures by correlating both ovality and diameter change at lower temperatures with the Larson--Miller Parameter.

Fission gas release data are presented from 51 fuel rods irradiated as part of the LWBR irradiations test program. The fuel rods were Zircaloy-4 clad and contained ThO/sub 2/ or ThO/sub 2/-UO/sub 2/ fuel pellets, with UO/sub 2/ compositions ranging from 2.0 to 24.7 weight percent and fuel densities ranging from 77.8 to 98.7 percent of theoretical. Rod diameters ranged from 0.25 to 0.71 inches and fuel active lengths ranged from 3 to 84 inches. Peak linear power outputs ranged from 2 to 22 kw/ft for peak fuel burnups up to 56,000 MWD/MTM. Measured fission gas release was quite low, ranging from 0.1 to 5.2 percent. Fission gas release was higher at higher temperature and burnup and was lower at higher initial fuel density. No sensitivity to UO/sub 2/ composition was evidenced.

Data from top injection ECCS tests conducted at Columbia University have been analyzed as part of an effort to qualify the FLASH-6 computer program for performing post-blowdown heat transfer calculations for the LWBR Safety Analysis. These experiments, which employed a full-scale fuel assembly with electrical heater rods to simulate an inlet rupture for a pressurized water reactor, provided test conditions and rod cooling mechanisms quite similar to those encountered in the postulated LWBR cold leg break loss-of-coolant accident. Clad temperature predictions were obtained using both the modified Dittus-Boelter and the Dougall-Rohsenow correlations to evaluate beyond CHF heat transfer coefficients. Overall comparisons using the FLASH calculated flow rates indicated that the rod temperature calculations were conservative using either of the heat transfer correlations because virtually none of the coolant was calculated to penetrate the heated test assembly. Heat transfer model comparisons were also performed by adjusting the calculation so that coolant was injected directly into the top of the rod bundle to simulate the experimentally observed flow conditions. Once this downflow was forced, conservative temperature predictions were obtained using the Dougall-Rohsenow correlation, whereas the modified Dittus-Boelter beyond CHF option yielded non-conservative results.

FLASH6 computer program calculations are compared with experimental data from two simulated loss-of-coolant accident blowdown tests which are designated as numbers 2 and 3 in the Standard problem Series sponsored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for reactor safety assessment. Both tests are isothermal blowdowns smulating a double-ended, cold-leg break and were conducted in the electrically-heated, 1-1/2 Loop Semiscale System at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The blowdown tests were initiated at nominal conditions of 575/sup 0/F, 2250 psia and 17.3 lbm/sec loop flow rate.

Analytical methods and test data employed in the core design of bolted joints for the LWBR core are presented. The effects of external working loads, thermal expansion, and material stress relaxation are considered in the formulation developed to analyze joint performance. Extensions of these methods are also provided for bolted joints having both axial and bending flexibilities, and for the effect of plastic deformation on internal forces developed in a bolted joint. Design applications are illustrated by examples.

Wear of the Zircaloy cladding of LWBR irradiation test fuel rods, resulting from relative motion between rod and rod support contacts, is reported. Measured wear depths were small, 0.0 to 2.7 mils, but are important in fuel element behavior assessment because of the local loss of cladding thickness, as well as the effect on grid spring forces that laterally restrain the rods. An empirical wear analysis model, based on out-of-pile tests, is presented. The model was used to calculate the wear on the irradiation test fuel rods attributed to a combination of up-and-down motions resulting from power and pressure/temperature cycling of the test reactor, flow-induced vibrations, and assembly handling scratches. The calculated depths are generally deeper than the measured depths.

This report summarizes the refueling operations performed to install a Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core into the existing pressurized water reactor vessel at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station. Detailed descriptions of the major installation operations (e.g., primary system preconditioning, fuel installation, pressure boundary seal welding) are included as appendices to this report; these operations are of technical interest to any reactor servicing operation, whether the reactor is a breeder or a conventional light water non-breeder core.

Although not a problem in recent commercial power reactors, including the Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor, internal hydriding of Zircaloy cladding was a persistent cause of gross cladding failures during the 1960s. It occurred in the fuel rods of water-cooled nuclear power reactors that had a small cladding defect. This report summarizes the experimental findings, causes, mechanisms, and methods of minimizing internal hydriding in defected Zircaloy-clad fuel rods. Irradiation test data on the different types of defected fuel rods, intentionally fabricated defected and in-pile operationally defected rods, are compared. Significant factors affecting internal hydriding in defected Zircaloy-clad fuel rods (defect hole size, internal and external sources of hydrogen, Zircaloy cladding surface properties, nickel alloy contamination of Zircaloy, the effect of heat flux and fluence) are discussed. Pertinent in-pile and out-of-pile test results from Bettis and other laboratories are used as a data base in constructing a qualitative model which explains hydrogen generation and distribution in Zircaloy cladding of defected water-cooled reactor fuel rods. Techniques for minimizing internal hydride failures in Zircaloy-clad fuel rods are evaluated.

Measurements of fission product iodine and cesium are reported for thoria and binary (ThO/sub 2/--UO/sub 2/) fuels with various irradiation histories. These volatile fission products were measured on the cladding surface or in the fuel by using specially developed radiochemical techniques. The radiochemical iodine measurements are found to be in general agreement with a theoretical iodine release model for irradiated fuel. Microprobe examinations of irradiated fuel rod cladding sections show fission product cesium to be located preferentially at the pellet to pellet interface region. Fission product iodine was detected in the interface region of one sample but generally remained below the microprobe limit of detection. 18 figures, 7 tables.

The shape of the thorium absorption cross section near thermal energies was investigated. This shape is dominated by one or more negative energy resonances whose parameters are not directly known, but must be inferred from higher energy data. Since the integral quantity most conveniently describing the thermal cross section shape is the Westcottg-factor, effort was directed toward establishing this quantity to high precision. Three nearly independent g-factor estimates were obtained from measurements on a variety of foils in three different neutron spectra provided by polyethylene-moderated neutrons from a /sup 252/Cf source and from irradiations in the National Bureau of Standards ''Standard Thermal Neutron Density.'' The weighted average of the three measurements was 0.993 +- 0.004. This is in good agreement with two recent evaluations and supports the adequacy of the current cross section descriptions.

ThO/sub 2/-UO/sub 2/ solid solutions fabricated as LWBR fuel pellets are examined for uniform uranium distribution by means of autoradiography. Kodak NTA plates are used. Images of inhomogeneities are 29 +- 10 microns larger in diameter than the high-urania segregations that caused them, due to the range of alpha particles in the emulsion, and an appropriate correction must be made. Photographic density is approximately linear with urania content in the region between underexposure and overexposure, but the slope of the calibration curve varies with aging and growth of alpha activity from the parasitic /sup 232/U and its decomposition products. A calibration must therefore be performed using two known points--the average photographic density (corresponding to the average composition) and an extrapolated background (corresponding to zero urania). As part of production pellet inspection, plates are evaluated by inspectors, who count segregations by size classes. This is supplemented by microdensitometer scans of the autoradiograph and by electron probe studies of the original sample if apparent homogeneity is marginal.

A model has been devised for incorporating into the thermal feedback procedure of the PDQ few-group diffusion theory computer program the explicit calculation of depletion and temperature dependent fuel-rod shrinkage and swelling at each mesh point. The model determines the effect on reactivity of the change in hydrogen concentration caused by the variation in coolant channel area as the rods contract and expand. The calculation of fuel temperature, and hence of Doppler-broadened cross sections, is improved by correcting the heat transfer coefficient of the fuel-clad gap for the effects of clad creep, fuel densification and swelling, and release of fission-product gases into the gap. An approximate calculation of clad stress is also included in the model.

A model was developed to estimate the radiation dose commitments received by people in the vicinity of a facility that releases radionuclides into the atmosphere. This model considers dose commitments resulting from immersion in the plume, ingestion of contaminated food, inhalation of gaseous and suspended radioactivity, and exposure to ground deposits. The dose commitments from each of these pathways is explicitly considered for each radionuclide released into the atmosphere and for each daughter of each released nuclide. Using the release rate of only the parent radionuclide, the air and ground concentrations of each daughter are calculated for each position of interest. This is considered to be a significant improvement over other models in which the concentrations of daughter radionuclides must be approximated by separate releases.

METER is a Monte Carlo computer program which can be used to simulate the interaction between independent random variables and their effects on one or more dependent random variables. The program is easy to use for simple simulations but is capable of accommodating complex simulations. METER processes input, generates random numbers from several common frequency distributions under user control, performs the simulation which the user has coded in FORTRAN, and displays results.

This report describes the use of a delayed neutron pellet assay gage to determine nondestructively the fissile content of fuel pellets during the manufacture of the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core. The gage characteristics are described including the nature of the calibration curves and the gage sensitivities to pellet parameters. Statistical methods are derived for analyzing the data to obtain the mean weight percent of total uranium in each blend of fuel material as well as the loading precision of each fuel rod. The fissile loading of each fuel rod was determined to better than 0.25% at the 2 sigma level, and the fissile content of eight fuel compositions in the LWBR core was obtained to better than 0.1%. Use of this gage and the data analysis methods described in this report reduced the need for destructive chemical analysis of fuel pellets by a factor of two.

This report presents the nuclear analysis and discusses the performance of the LWBR core at Shippingport during power operation from initial startup through end-of-life at 28,730 EFPH. Core follow depletion calculations confirmed that the reactivity bias and power distributions were well within the uncertainty allowances used in the design and safety analysis of LWBR. The magnitude of the core follow reactivity bias has shown that the calculational models used can predict the behavior of U/sup 233/-Th systems with closely spaced fuel rod lattices and movable fuel. In addition, the calculated final fissile loading is sufficiently greater than the initial fissile inventory that the measurements to be performed for proof-of-breeding evaluations are expected to confirm that breeding has occurred.