U-Mo fuel research working group report; FY2008

U-Mo Fuel Research Working Group

A silicide fuel enriched less than 20% U has been used for research reactors JRR-3, JRR-4 and JMTR. The spent silicide fuel elements generated before May 2016 will have been shipped to the United States under the contract between the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the JAEA. After termination of the contract, the spent silicide fuel elements will have to be straged in each research reactor. Therefore, we have reviewed possibilities of U-Mo fuel as alternative fuel to the silicide fuel. The U-Mo fuel has been reported to increase reactor performance due to the high uranium density and the good reprocessing feasibility. We confirmed that the reprocessing U-Mo was possible by dissolving with light water reactor fuel. However, there is still unsolved swelling problem of U-Mo fuel. We have decided that conversion from silicide fuel to U-Mo fuel is not possible at present.