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Barnes, Charles

Publications and source records attributed to Barnes, Charles.

6 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2010

Fabrication of Uranium Oxycarbide Kernels for HTR Fuel

Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) has been producing high quality uranium oxycarbide (UCO) kernels for Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) fuel tests at the Idaho National Laboratory. In 2005, 350-µm, 19.7% 235U-enriched UCO kernels were produced for the AGR-1 test fuel. Following coating of these kernels and forming the coated-particles into compacts, this fuel was irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) from December 2006 until November 2009. B&W produced 425-µm, 14% enriched UCO kernels in 2008, and these kernels were used to produce fuel for the AGR-2 experiment that was inserted in ATR in 2010. B&W also produced 500-µm, 9.6% enriched UO2 kernels for the AGR-2 experiments. Kernels of the same size and enrichment as AGR-1 were also produced for the AGR-3/4 experiment. In addition to fabricating enriched UCO and UO2 kernels, B&W has produced more than 100 kg of natural uranium UCO kernels which are being used in coating development tests. Successive lots of kernels have demonstrated consistent high quality and also allowed for fabrication process improvements. Improvements in kernel forming were made subsequent to AGR-1 kernel production. Following fabrication of AGR-2 kernels, incremental increases in sintering furnace charge size have been demonstrated. Recently small scale sintering tests using a small development furnace equipped with a residual gas analyzer (RGA) has increased understanding of how kernel sintering parameters affect sintered kernel properties. The steps taken to increase throughput and process knowledge have reduced kernel production costs. Studies have been performed of additional modifications toward the goal of increasing capacity of the current fabrication line to use for production of first core fuel for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) and providing a basis for the design of a full scale fuel fabrication facility.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Fabrication and Comparison of Fuels for Advanced Gas Reactor Irradiation Tests

As part of the program to demonstrate TRISO-coated fuel for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, a series of irradiation tests of Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) fuel are being performed in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory. In the first test, called “AGR-1,” graphite compacts containing approximately 300,000 coated particles were irradiated from December 2006 until November 2009. Development of AGR-1 fuel sought to replicate the properties of German TRISO-coated particles. No particle failures were seen in the nearly 3-year irradiation to a burn up of 19%. The AGR-1 particles were coated in a two-inch diameter coater. Following fabrication of AGR-1 fuel, process improvements and changes were made in each of the fabrication processes. Changes in the kernel fabrication process included replacing the carbon black powder feed with a surface-modified carbon slurry and shortening the sintering schedule. AGR-2 TRISO particles were produced in a six-inch diameter coater using a change size about twenty-one times that of the two-inch diameter coater used to coat AGR-1 particles. Changes were also made in the compacting process, including increasing the temperature and pressure of pressing and using a different type of press. Irradiation of AGR-2 fuel began in late spring 2010. Properties of AGR-2 fuel compare favorably with AGR-1 and historic German fuel. Kernels are more homogeneous in shape, chemistry and density. TRISO-particle sphericity, layer thickness standard deviations, and defect fractions are also comparable. In a sample of 317,000 particles from deconsolidated AGR-2 compacts, 3 exposed kernels were found in a leach test. No SiC defects were found in a sample of 250,000 deconsolidated particles, and no IPyC defects in a sample of 64,000 particles. The primary difference in properties between AGR-1 and AGR-2 compacts is that AGR-2 compacts have a higher matrix density, 1.6 g/cm3 compared to about 1.3 g/cm3 for AGR-1 compacts. Based on fuel properties, excellence performance is expected for the AGR-2 UCO fuel.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Ultra Reliability

This viewgraph presentation gives a general overview of NASA's ultra reliability areas. The contents include: 1) Objectives; 2) Approach; 3) Ultra Reliability Areas; 4) Plan Overview; 5) Work Flows; and 6) Customers.

long life↗
NASA NTRS1997

Recent Radiation Effects Activities at JPL: Coping with COTS

The rediation effects and testing programs in place at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory support the insertion of traditional, advanced, and emerging microelectronic and photonic technologies in NASA systems through research and testing that enhances the radiation hardness assurance (RHA) of these technologies. With the decreasing availability of radiation hardened electronics and the new NASA paradigm of faster, more aggressive and less expensive space missions, there has been an increasing emphasis on using high performance commercial microelectronic parts and circuits in NASA spacecraft.

radiation↗
NASA NTRS1995

Radiation Effects in Photonic Modulator Structures

%T Radiation Effects in Photonic Modulator Structures%A Charles Barnes%A Roger Greenwell%J SPIE, Photonics for Space Environments%C Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.%D April 18-20, 1995%K Radiation%K Photonic Modulator Structures%U http://techreports.jpl.nasa.gov/1995/95-1057.pdfA review is given of the effects of radiation on various photonic modulator materials and devices including polymer-based structures, insulator-based devices, semiconductor-based devices and spatial light modulators. We conclude by providing recommendations for further work in the area of radiation effects in photonic modulators.!

Photonic↗