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Iran will today load locally made nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran Research Reactor for the first time, a senior official has said.
Pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel consists of cylindrical rods put into bundles. A uranium oxide ceramic is formed into pellets and inserted into Zircaloy tubes that are bundled together. The Zircaloy tubes are about 1 cm in diameter, and the fuel cladding gap is filled with helium gas to improve the conduction of heat from the fuel to the cladding. There are about 179-264 fuel rods per fuel bundle and about 121 to 193 fuel bundles are loaded into a reactor core. Generally, the fuel bundles consist of fuel rods bundled 14×14 to 17×17. PWR fuel bundles are about 4 meters long. In PWR fuel bundles, control rods are inserted through the top directly into the fuel bundle. The fuel bundles usually are enriched several percent in 235U. The uranium oxide is dried before inserting into the tubes to try to eliminate moisture in the ceramic fuel that can lead to corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement. The Zircaloy tubes are pressurized with helium to try to minimize pellet-cladding interaction which can lead to fuel rod failure over long periods.
Dick Cheney
"And what we've seen recently that has raised our level of concern to the current state of unrest ... is that he now is trying, through his illicit procurement network, to acquire the equipment he needs to be able to enrich uranium -- specifically, aluminum tubes," Cheney said, referring to one of the elements for making nuclear weapons.
Colin Powell
And as we saw in reporting just this morning, he is still trying to acquire, for example, some of the specialized aluminum tubing one needs to develop centrifuges that would give you an enrichment capability.
Condoleezza Rice
In 2002, Rice had said that the tubes were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," adding that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Originally posted by MrKiplingCould this be the excuse TPTB are waiting for?
Originally posted by MushroomWig
Originally posted by MrKiplingCould this be the excuse TPTB are waiting for?
I don't see how, nuclear fuel rods can hardly be used for a bomb.
Originally posted by Vitchilo
Gee, they got 1950s technology.
Good for them.
And to everyone... remember that these can only be used in REACTORS... not for nukes.
Nuclear rods are what is inside a reactor.
Report: Iran says has started using new advanced centrifuges at Natanz uranium enrichment site
Another Fukushima waiting to happen
The Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) is a 5 megawatt-thermal (MWth) pool-type light water research reactor
Pool-type reactors, also called swimming pool reactors, are a type of nuclear reactor that has a core immersed in an open pool of water. The reactor core, consisting of the fuel elements and the control rods, is situated in an open water pool. The water acts as neutron moderator, cooling agent and radiation shield. The layer of water directly above the reactor core shields the radiation so completely that operators may work above the reactor safely. This design has two major advantages: the reactor is easily accessible and the whole primary cooling system, i.e. the pool water, is under normal pressure. This avoids the high temperatures and great pressures of nuclear power plants. Pool reactors are used as a source of neutrons and for training, and in rare instances for process heat but not for electrical generation.
The question really is what are the Israel and their lap dogs the US going to do to make it happen?