Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy Fissile Materials Disposition Program is pursuing
disposal of surplus weapons-usable plutonium by reactor irradiation as the fissile constituent of
mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. Lead test assemblies (LTAs) have been irradiated for approximately
36 months in Duke Energy’s Catawba-1 nuclear power plant. Per the MOX fuel qualification plan,
destructive post-irradiation examinations (PIEs) are to be performed on second-cycle rods
(irradiated to an average burnup of approximately 42 GWd/MTHM). These LTA bundles are
planned to be returned to the reactor and further irradiated to approximately 52 GWd/MTHM.
Nondestructive and destructive PIEs of these commercially irradiated weapons-derived MOX fuel
rods will be conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the Irradiated Fuels
Examination Laboratory (IFEL). PIE began in early 2009. In order to support the examination of
the irradiated full-length (~3.66 m) MOX fuel rods, ORNL in 2004 began to develop the necessary
infrastructure and equipment for the needed full-scope PIE capabilities. The preparations
included modifying the IFEL building to handle a commercial spent-fuel shipping cask;
procurement of cask-handling equipment and a skid to move the cask inside the building;
development of in-cell handling equipment for cask unloading; and design, fabrication, and
testing of the automated, state-of-the-art PIE examination equipment. This paper describes these
activities and the full-scope PIE capabilities available at ORNL for commercial full-length fuel
rods.
