Inert matrix fuel performance during the first two irradiation cycles in a test reactor: comparison with modelling results

In the inert matrix fuel (IMF) type investigated at Paul Scherrer Institut, plutonium is dissolved in the yttrium stabilised zirconium oxide (YSZ), a highly radiation resistant cubic phase with additions of erbium as burnable poison for reactivity control. A first irradiation experiment of YSZ based IMF is ongoing in the OECD Material Test Reactor in Halden together with mixed oxide fuel. The results of the first two cycles for IMF to a burnup of some 105 kWd cm(-3) are presented and the modelling results in comparison with the experimental results are shown. A first approximation for a simple swelling model for this YSZ based IMF can be given. Possible fission gas release mechanisms are briefly discussed. The implications of the modelling results are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.