BISON fuel performance modeling optimization for experiment X447 and X447A using axial swelling and cladding strain measurements

Paaren, Kyle Mitchell; Black, Ammon Hughes; Lybeck, Nancy J.; Mo, Kun; Spencer, Benjamin W.; Medvedev, Pavel G.; Porter, Douglas L.

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2022.111812

BISON fuel performance modeling optimization for experiment X447 and X447A using axial swelling and cladding strain measurements

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Nuclear Engineering and Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2022.111812· OSTI ID:2370479

Paaren, Kyle Mitchell ^[1]; Black, Ammon Hughes ^[1]; ^[1]; Mo, Kun ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

With the recent need to qualify new reactor designs such as the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), fuel performance calculations need to be performed to determine safety criteria of the proposed designs. In order to validate the fuel performance results obtained by a fuel performance code, BISON, for new reactor designs, legacy fuel from EBR-II and FFTF MFF with Post -Irradiation Examination (PIE) data need to be used as validation cases to benchmark models. Here in this work, BISON has been paired with the Fuels Irradiation & Physics Database (FIPD) and IFR Materials Information System (IMIS) to supply PIE data for comparison with simulations of EBR-II experiments X447/X447A. X447/X447A were assessed by implementing models for Fuel Cladding Chemical Interaction (FCCI) within BISON and optimizing the friction coefficient between the fuel surface and the cladding, the anisotropic swelling factor, and the HT9 first thermal creep scalar (which scales the first term in the HT9 creep equation) to best match the PIE axial fuel swelling height and cladding profilometry for all pins in X447/X447A. The optimal values were found using a generic algorithm developed to select different values for the three parameters until end criteria was met and error couldn’t be reduced further. The BISON-simulated cladding profilometry was evaluated using Standard Error of the Estimate (SEE) to account for the profile shape of the cladding profilometry. Optimal values for the friction coefficient, anisotropic fuel swelling factor, and HT9 first thermal creep scalar were found to best fit the BISON simulation results to the PIE measurements found in IMIS and FIPD. Improvements to current models are suggested to account for the underprediction of fuel swelling at low burnups and the overprediction of fuel swelling at higher burnups observed for the axial fuel swelling height. Although two pins in EBR-II X447/X447A (DP70 and DP75) were known to fail due to FCCI, none of the pins simulated in BISON reached a cumulative damage fraction (CDF) above 0.008 with FCCI correlations coupled in the BISON simulations. The error estimate generated for all pins in X447/X447A using optimal values was 209 µm, which is deemed acceptable.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2370479

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--21-62454-Revision-0

Journal Information:: Nuclear Engineering and Design, Journal Name: Nuclear Engineering and Design Journal Issue: - Vol. 394; ISSN 0029-5493

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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