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Isotope production calculations have been prepared in the past to indicate present and potential reactor capability; however, the cases evaluated generally considered production of only one or possibly two isotopes. With the wide variety and potential demand for numerous isotopes, the question arises as to what the production capability would be if several isotopes were being produced at the same time. To study this problem in more detail and determine which of several alternates may be used in meeting production requirements, the Case Generator and Evaluator System has been developed. This document presents a production matrix and reviews the assumptions used to derive the matrix. This matrix should be useful in planning future CAGE isotope cases.

The current specifications for the cladding on {open_quotes}N{close_quotes} fuels were established early in the course of process development and were predicted on several basic considerations. Among these were: (a) a desire to provide an adequate safety factor in cladding thickness to insure against corrosion penetration and rupture from uranium swelling stresses; (b) an apprehension that the striations in the zircaloy cladding of the U/zircaloy interface and on the exterior surface might serve as stress-raisers, leading to untimely failures of the jacket; and (c) then existing process capability - the need to maintain a specified ratio between zircaloy and uranium in the billet assembly to effect satisfactory coextrusion. It now appears appropriate to review these specifications in an effort to determine whether some of them may be revised, with attendant gains in economy and/or operating smoothness.