Application of BISON to UO2 MiniFuel fission gas release analysis

Cheniour, Amani; Pastore, Giovanni; Harp, Jason M.; Petrie, Christian M.; Capps, Nathan A.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153686

Application of BISON to UO 2 MiniFuel fission gas release analysis

Journal Article · Sun Mar 27 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153686· OSTI ID:1864448

^[1]; Pastore, Giovanni ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Capps, Nathan A. ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

There has been a recent push to accelerate fuel qualification by developing revolutionary capabilities to reduce irradiation periods, and thereby, reduce the time required to qualify a new fuel system. One such capability is the MiniFuel irradiation capsule designed to miniaturize fuel samples and irradiate “mini” fuel samples under isothermal temperature conditions. MiniFuel allows steady-state irradiations to decouple the traditionally coupled fission rate (i.e., power) and temperature parameters to understand and generate microstructures observed in fuel operated in a commercial reactor. Furthermore, this process offers the possibility to gather in situ data as well as postirradiation or transient data such as thermal conductivity, specific heat, fission gas diffusion and release, etc. However, accelerating fuel qualification is not solely reliant on generating large amounts of data but also on developing an informed test matrix designed to rapidly generate impactful data. Additionally, this process is reliant on fuel performance codes, such as BISON, to evaluate MiniFuel irradiations using existing material models. This process pinpoints model/data gaps, identifies desired irradiation conditions, and subsequently supports model validation and development. This work describes the use of BISON to perform a number of sensitivity studies designed to understand conditions that lead to fission gas release (FGR) under steady-state isothermal irradiation conditions and temperature transient conditions. The model is applied to a UO₂ MiniFuel example and shows an overall good qualitative agreement with experimental FGR annealing tests under different temperature conditions. It also accounts well for microstructural effects on FGR. When quantitatively compared with FGR data from previously irradiated 103 MWd/kgU UO₂ discs under thermal annealing, the model shows a less satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. Finally, a UO₂ MiniFuel test matrix is proposed to help to extend the model's operational range and validate the new FGR model capabilities to higher burnups and transient conditions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1864448

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1862471

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Journal Issue: C Vol. 565; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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