NUCLEAR REACTOR FUEL ELEMENT WITH HIGH BURN-UP AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME

摘要

In order to increase the burn-up potential of fuel elements, pellets enriched to an unacceptably high degree are produced on the production lines (3 to 9) which are designed to produce large amounts of normally enriched fuel. The unacceptable enrichment is compensated by mixing with the fuel (T, P, N) in the powder mixer (M) at the production line inlet an amount of absorber material (U/B powder) such that the reactivity of the contaminated mixture does not exceed the reactivity of a normally enriched uncontaminated fuel mixture. Corresponding fuel elements thus contain larger amounts of these contaminated pellets (or only such contaminated pellets) which can be produced with conventional plants in large numbers (and hence economically).