Design of Hot Cell Laboratory and Equipment for HTR Spent Spherical Fuel Element

HTR spent fuel laboratory is designed and built to establish an advanced platform with hot cells and ancillary facilities for irradiated HTR spherical fuel elements and spent fuel elements. The post irradiation examination（PIE） research carried along this project aims to find out the failure and damage mechanisms of both TRISO coated fuel particles and HTR spherical elements. The hot cell laboratory mainly consists of five single hot cells, six shielded glove boxes, one conveyor line and a pneumatic sample transportation system. Apparatus and ancillary equipment are specially modified based on HTR fuel element’s microstructure to meet the requirements of remote control. The hot cell laboratory covers the functions of weighting, burnup measurement, heating test, deconsolidation test, damage rate measurement, sample preparation, macrostructure and microstructure investigation, thermal properties measurement of both post irradiated spherical FE and TRISO coated fuel particles. Results will provide significant reference data for new fuel element design.