Development on fabrication and inspection techniques for the ZrC-coated fuel particle as an advanced high temperature gas cooled reactor fuel

Ueta, Shohei   ; Aihara, Jun ; Yasuda, Atsushi; Ishibashi, Hideharu; Mozumi, Yasuhiro; Sawa, Kazuhiro; Minato, Kazuo 

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is developing the zirconium carbide (ZrC) coated fuel particle which has better refractoriness and chemical stability than the conventional silicon carbide (SiC) coated fuel particle. In the present study, ZrC coating tests were carried out by the enlarged 200 g-scale ZrC coater comparing with the previous study. Finally, the stoichiometric ZrC layer was successfully fabricated by obtaining relationships between properties of ZrC, coating temperature and batch size through coating tests. In addition, not only inspection methods for coating thickness and density, but also treatment technique to remove pyrocarbon (PyC) layer were developed in order to evaluate the quality of the ZrC coated fuel particle. Present R&D will contribute to the practicability of the ZrC coated fuel particle as a fuel for the advanced high temperature gas cooled reactor such as the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR).