Design and Development of Failed Fuel Location Module for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor

Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), India’s first commercial fast breeder reactor employing fast fission is a challenging project from technological point of view to meet the energy security of the country. PFBR is a sodium cooled fast reactor. There are 198 fuel sub assemblies with mixed oxide fuel in the reactor. The fuel is provided with a leak tight metal cladding for containment of the fission products. There are risks of sodium circuit contamination and the fission products blocking the coolant flow to the fuel sub assemblies in case of clad rupture and release of solid fission products into the coolant. Hence PFBR is equipped with an elaborate failed fuel detection and location system. Failed Fuel Location Module is one of the subsystems used to identify the sub-assembly having fuel pins with clad failure. This paper discusses about the conceptual design, design specifications, detailed design, manufacture, assembly and some of the results of functional testing of failed fuel location module of PFBR.