Mesoscale modeling of the effects of accelerated burnup on UO2 microstructural evolution

Cheniour, Amani; Hilty, Floyd W.; Petrie, Christian M.; Capps, Nathan A.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155036

Mesoscale modeling of the effects of accelerated burnup on UO₂ microstructural evolution

Journal Article · Thu Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155036· OSTI ID:2406807

^[1]; Hilty, Floyd W. ^[2]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Accelerating the nuclear fuel qualification process will rely on some combination of advanced modeling and simulation techniques with accelerated irradiation testing and separate effects experiments to enable the development of new fuel concepts in a shorter time frame. One of the key challenges to successfully leveraging accelerated irradiation tests will be understanding the artifacts that may be introduced with accelerated accumulation of dose and/or burnup. This work presents phase field (MARMOT) simulations of the evolution of representative 2D UO2 microstructures up to 40 MWd/kgU. Simulations were performed under both commercial light water reactor fuel conditions as well as those that would be expected for highly accelerated (~10x) burnup conditions similar to those used in the MiniFuel irradiations in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor. The phase field model was coupled with a discrete nucleation algorithm to model restructuring at high burnup. The effect of the different fission rates in both microstructures was investigated at two temperatures: 650°C and 800°C. The lower temperature simulations both showed an onset of restructuring at nearly 60 MWd/kgU. More extensive restructuring was obtained in the MiniFuel microstructure compared with that of the PWR fuel. At 800°C, no restructuring was obtained as a result of the thermally activated diffusion of Xe atoms and U vacancies to fission gas bubbles, which reduces the nucleation driving force. These results highlight the importance of using modeling and simulation tools to inform the environmental conditions during targeted accelerated irradiation tests to extract the most useful fuel performance data.

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; AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2406807

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2368915
OSTI ID: 2438474

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Vol. 595; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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