Use of silicide fuel in the Ford Nuclear Reactor - to lengthen fuel element lifetimes

Based on economic considerations, it has been proposed to increase the lifetime of LEU fuel elements in the Ford Nuclear Reactor by raising the {sup 235}U plate loading from 9.3 grams in aluminide (UAl{sub x}) fuel to 12.5 grams in silicide (U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}) fuel. For a representative core configuration, preliminary neutronic depletion and steady state thermal hydraulic calculations have been performed to investigate core characteristics during the transition from an all-aluminide to an all-silicide core. This paper discusses motivations for this fuel element upgrade, results from the calculations, and conclusions.