Abstract
The present status of development of fuels for High-Temperature-Reactors (HTR) in West Germany is briefly reported. The studies on fuel elements for HTR in KFA (Kernforschungsanlage, Jülich) has been mainly concerned with spherical fuel elements for two pebble bed reactors AVR and THTR.
As for the sol-gel procedure to fabricate the fuel kernels for coated particles, particular mention is made of the KFA-H-process, in which the reduction step is not included. Next, the work on the change in the physical and mechanical properties during irradiation, the diffusion behavior of solid fission products and the reduction of gradients of anisotropy and density in PyC-layers are described. Radiation damage in PyC by fast neutrons is also reported.
The results of irradiation tests on spherical fuel elements and their performance are described.
Finally, the results of investigations on the amoeba effect are reported.
