Irradiation testing of matrix material for spherical HTR-10 fuel elements

In order to evaluate if the fuel elements and their components (matrix material and coated fuel particles) can meet the design requirements of 10 MW high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR-10), an irradiation testing with four spherical fuel elements, 60 matrix material specimens of 5 mm × 5 mm × 40 mm and 13,500 coated fuel particles was performed in Russian IVV-2M reactor from July 2000 to February 2003. The irradiation temperature was 1000 °C. The fast neutron fluence of matrix material specimens reached 1.3 × 1021 cm−2 (E > 0.1 MeV). Post-irradiation examination contained the visual inspection, dimension measurement and determining the density, porosity, specific electrical resistance and bending strength. The irradiation results are given in this paper, and show that the matrix material for spherical HTR-10 fuel elements made from the domestic raw materials and fabricated by the quasi-isostatic room-temperature moulding process is suitable as a structural material for spherical HTR fuel elements.