Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions
Abstract
The catastrophic events that occurred at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011 have led to widespread interest in research of alternative fuels and claddings that are proposed to be accident tolerant. Thus, the United States Department of Energy through its NEAMS (Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation) program has funded an Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) High Impact Problem (HIP). The ATF HIP is funded for a three-year period. The purpose of the HIP is to perform research into two potential accident tolerant concepts and provide an in-depth report to the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) describing the behavior of the concepts, both of which are being considered for inclusion in a lead test assembly scheduled for placement into a commercial reactor in 2022. The initial focus of the HIP is on uranium silicide fuel and iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy cladding. Utilizing the expertise of three national laboratory participants (INL, LANL, and ANL) a comprehensive mulitscale approach to modeling is being used including atomistic modeling, molecular dynamics, rate theory, phase-field, and fuel performance simulations. In this paper, we present simulations of two proposed accident tolerant fuel systems: U3Si2 fuel with Zircaloy-4 cladding, and UO2 fuel with FeCrAl cladding. The simulations investigate themore »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1358198
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-15-37531
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- Resource Type:
- Conference
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Top Fuel 2016, Boise, ID, December 11–16, 2016
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; ATF; BISON; LOCA; SBO
Citation Formats
Gamble, Kyle A., and Hales, Jason D. Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web.
Gamble, Kyle A., & Hales, Jason D. Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions. United States.
Gamble, Kyle A., and Hales, Jason D. 2016.
"Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1358198.
@article{osti_1358198,
title = {Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions},
author = {Gamble, Kyle A. and Hales, Jason D.},
abstractNote = {The catastrophic events that occurred at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011 have led to widespread interest in research of alternative fuels and claddings that are proposed to be accident tolerant. Thus, the United States Department of Energy through its NEAMS (Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation) program has funded an Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) High Impact Problem (HIP). The ATF HIP is funded for a three-year period. The purpose of the HIP is to perform research into two potential accident tolerant concepts and provide an in-depth report to the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) describing the behavior of the concepts, both of which are being considered for inclusion in a lead test assembly scheduled for placement into a commercial reactor in 2022. The initial focus of the HIP is on uranium silicide fuel and iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy cladding. Utilizing the expertise of three national laboratory participants (INL, LANL, and ANL) a comprehensive mulitscale approach to modeling is being used including atomistic modeling, molecular dynamics, rate theory, phase-field, and fuel performance simulations. In this paper, we present simulations of two proposed accident tolerant fuel systems: U3Si2 fuel with Zircaloy-4 cladding, and UO2 fuel with FeCrAl cladding. The simulations investigate the fuel performance response of the proposed ATF systems under Loss of Coolant and Station Blackout conditions using the BISON code. Sensitivity analyses are completed using Sandia National Laboratories’ DAKOTA software to determine which input parameters (e.g., fuel specific heat) have the greatest influence on the output metrics of interest (e.g., fuel centerline temperature). Early results indicate that each concept has significant advantages as well as areas of concern. Further work is required prior to formulating the proposition report for the Advanced Fuels Campaign.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1358198},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}