In-cell welding techniques for irradiated fuel rods

Two techniques for remote welding of irradiated fuel rods have been developed at the Battelle Columbus Hot Cell Laboratory (BCL). The purpose of these developments is to seal punctured or cutoff fuel rods that have undergone postirradiation examination so they can be returned to storage, thus avoiding expensive disposal costs. One technique enables sealing the hole punched in the fuel rod plenum for sampling fission gases. The other enables welding caps onto rods from which short end sections have been removed. Both techniques have been used successfully at BCL on Zircaloy-clad rods. Both techniques can also be applied to other cladding materials.