Development of a fuel-rod simulator and small-diameter thermocouples for high-temperature, high-heat-flux tests in the Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Core Flow Test Loop

The Core Flow Test Loop was constructed to perform many of the safety, core design, and mechanical interaction tests in support of the Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR) using electrically heated fuel rod simulators (FRSs). Operation includes many off-normal or postulated accident sequences including transient, high-power, and high-temperature operation. The FRS was developed to survive: (1) hundreds of hours of operation at 200 W/cm/sup 2/, 1000/sup 0/C cladding temperature, and (2) 40 h at 40 W/cm/sup 2/, 1200/sup 0/C cladding temperature. Six 0.5-mm type K sheathed thermocouples were placed inside the FRS cladding to measure steady-state and transient temperatures through clad melting at 1370/sup 0/C.