Research and developments on C/C composite for Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) application

Shibata, Taiju ; Sumita, Junya ; Makita, Taiyo*; Takagi, Takashi*; Kunimoto, Eiji; Sawa, Kazuhiro

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) carries out R&Ds for Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). Since the core components in VHTR will be used at severer condition than in the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), it is important to develop heat-resistant ceramic composite. C/C and SiC/SiC composites are major candidates substitute for metallic control rod. JAEA studies on the application of the composite materials for the VHTR control rod following the scheme; (1) Database establishment, (2) Design and (3) Demonstration test by HTTR. In this paper, the development plan was explained. It was expressed that the irradiation effects on graphitized C/C composite showed similar trend with that of graphite. It is possible to evaluate the irradiation effects based on the existing graphite irradiation database. The HTTR can irradiate large component. It is possible to demonstrate the structural integrity of the mock-up of the composite control rod being necessary for the final phase.