[1J09-12] Gas-cooled Reactors

[1J12] Development of Security and Safety fuel for Pu-burner HTGR

(21)Test and Characterization for ZrC Coating

*Shohei Ueta¹, Jun Aihara¹, Yukio Tachibana¹, Kazuhiko Kunitomi¹, Koji Okamoto² (1. JAEA, 2. Univ. Tokyo)

Keywords:Coated fuel particle, Zirconium carbide, ZrC, Chemical vapor deposition, Coating test, Characterization

To extend burnup of security and safety fuel for Pu-burner HTGR, zirconium carbide (ZrC) acting as an oxygen getter is coated directly on the inert matrix fuel kernel. In the fiscal year 2016, ZrC layer with the thickness of about 21 μm has been coated successfully on YSZ (Yttria Stabilized Zirconia) dummy fuel kernel with the diameter of 0.7 mm, and then the chemical vapor deposition condition has demonstrated reproducibility of stoichiometric ZrC coating and contributed to obtaining growing rate of ZrC. Also, the material properties at the boundary between ZrC and YSZ was characterized. Furthermore, inproving ZrC coater enabled one to coat ZrC on the sphere with smaller diameter than that with conventional.