LEAD COOLED FAST REACTOR FUEL ELEMENT (ALTERNATIVES) Russian patent published in 2007 - IPC G21C1/00 

FIELD: nuclear engineering; fuel elements for lead (lead-bismuth) cooled fast reactors.

SUBSTANCE: proposed fuel element has cladding tightly closed on both ends with plugs which accommodates nuclear fuel and heat-transfer sublayer filled with inert gas or lead (lead-bismuth alloy); cladding is made in the form of bimetal tube with external ferrite steel layer incorporating in its composition carbon, silicon, manganese, chromium, tungsten, aluminum, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, nitrogen, oxygen, boron, cerium, and/or yttrium, cobalt, copper, sulfur, phosphor taken in definite proportion, as well as refractory internal martensite-ferrite steel layer incorporating carbon, silicon, manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, boron, nitrogen, and cesium taken in definite proportion; external-to-internal layer thickness ratio is 0.5 : 0.2. Cladding can be made of trimetal tube with internal and external layers of ferrite steel incorporating in its composition carbon, silicon, manganese, chromium, tungsten, aluminum, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, nitrogen oxygen, boron, cerium, and/or yttrium, cobalt, copper, sulfur, phosphor taken in definite proportion; intermediate layer of tube is made of refractory martensite-ferrite steel incorporating in its composition carbon, silicon, manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, boron, nitrogen, cerium taken in definite proportion; total internal/external-to-intermediate layer thickness ratio is 0.5 : 0.3. Corrosion resistance of such cladding is higher by three or four times compared with prior art.

EFFECT: enhanced corrosion resistance of cladding without essential reduction in strength.

1 cl, 1 dwg, 3 tbl