R&D on nitride fuel cycle for MA transmutation to enhance safety and economy, 3; Lattice and bulk expansion of nitride fuel pellet by self-irradiation damage

Takano, Masahide ; Takaki, Seiya  

In the fuel containing minor actinides with high concentrations, lattice defects and He atoms accumulates quickly due to the self-irradiation damage of alpha-decay. The lattice expansion arising from the defects accumulation is well-known phenomenon, however, the knowledge relating to the bulk expansion have not been obtained yet. In this work we prepared a nitride fuel pellet containing Cm as a main alpha-emitter, and obtained data on the relationship between lattice and bulk expansion as a function of storage duration at room temperature.